Everyday Life as a Non-Pony OC
by Fawkes1989
Summary: Waking up in a strange world, a single human now has to live his life, now babysat by the characters he once watched on TV. Alienated by strange culture, and odd physics, He has to learn to make due with the life he has been dealt, until somepony can find a way to send him back home.
1. Intro Changelist

Hey guys. The real story starts on the next page. I just wanted to put a page up here for people to check, since there have been some big changes.

 **If you've read this story before, please read this before looking for a new chapter.**

So far, prior to my writing this page, on December 29th, 2016, I had 7 chapters up, chronicling Fawkes' adventure until just about the end of episode 1. I have had general favourable ratings for a new, first story, but had some major repeated complaints, and I would like to address those. One: The length of chapters. the first chapter was only about 900 words long. Honestly it only took about 2-3 minutes to read, and provided very little info. I actually have now merged the first three chapters together, making a total length of about 4000 words. I also did some minor changed to wording, and officially retconned Celestia in chapter two, to actually fit in with the shows timeline, as I made a mistake the first time. There is now only currently 2 chapters.

The second chapter, sitting at about 6500 words, not including authors notes, is original chapters 4-6. Episodes one and two should be finished with the next chapter. Episode 3 will contain original chapter 7, which I took down to re-write, as I rushed it out, and did not like the way the chapter ended. I also asked for a friend's opinion, and he shared mine. The next chapter will also contain Chapter 8, and 9 merged into one. That is going to be the length of most chapters going forth. Chapter 8 should also mark the first major change from FiM Canon, so that might be interesting to check up.

I will be listing any further changes here, so check here for any updates occasionally. Also, feel free to PM me, or leave reviews pointing out issue and giving constructive criticism on my writing. The main purpose of this project is not only to show love for a series I enjoy, but also to grow as a writer, so any help is appreciated. Thank you all for reading, and I look forward to using your suggestions to improve as a writer.


	2. Chapter 1 - Awakening in a New World

**Author's Note - The basis for this fic is based on another fic called Everday Life as a Supporting Character, by LuckyChaos. Please check out his work here. I'd highly recommend the aforementioned fic. u/1704962/luckychaos**

 **This story is a self insert original work taking place at the start of the MLP gen 4 series. Before you go 'Ugh another crappy self insert' please give it a chance. My goal is to take the groundwork laid by by the show, and and run with it in a natural progression through the eyes of an observer with the ability to influence the story. It will be a more mature series, dealing with the differences in species and the difficulties of literally being an alien in a foreign land, and the only one of their kind. I also want to point out that this series will be containing NO lemon content. I haven't decided yet whether I feel comfortable even putting romance in down the road, as the character befriends the characters and eventual sees them as people like him instead of ponies. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism if you feel I need to change my writing style or would like to point out mistakes. don't be hater though. No one likes those dudes. Edit: 12/29/2016, I decided to merge several chapters together for you guys. Figured that it might make reading more engaging. Some big changes are coming to the story that I think you guys might like, so stick around. Massive plot changes happen about chapter 4ish.  
**

 **Everyday Life as a Non-pony OC**

 **Chapter One - The Awakening**

As I came to, the first thing I noticed was the cool feeling across my cheek. It was hard, and unyielding, yet cool and refreshing to the touch. My eyes snapped open, as I raised myself on my hands, and looked down at the floor.

The floor was made of a grey flagstone. Odd minerals gave a slight sheen to the stone that changed based on how the light hit it. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. It appeared to be some sort of room. Like a bed chamber, without a bed. Light streamed in through the windows, as sheer curtains fluttered playfully in the slight breeze coming in through the pane-less windows. Walls were made of the same sort of flagstone that the floor was, and magnificent tapestries adorned several walls. The smell of flowers and summer wafted to me from the vase on a table under the window.

I got up, and walked to the window, brushing myself off. Looking out at the surrounding area, I realized on was in a tall building. A castle by the looks of it. I'm several floors, by the looks of it. Last thing I remembered was going to bed in my bedroom. How did I wake up here?  
THUP! A dull thud, and a blinding flash of pain is all I remembered as I dropped to the floor and black out again. As I woke up, I again felt the refreshing feeling of cool stone against my face, but this time, the air was a bit mustier. Smelled a bit like straw, actually. I opened my eyes, and stood up. While not dark, it was less lit than the previous room I was in, Instead of natural sunlight the area seems lit by a few torches, crackling merrily in their sconces. A collection of sturdy iron bars separated my room from the corridor where the light was coming from. I looked around, and spotted a small bed of straw in the corner. Ah. That explains the scent of it. I kneel down and grab a handful of the straw. It's dry, but relatively fresh. It must have been put there this morning.

"Aha. You are awake. Stay put. The Princess wants to speak to you, whatever you are." A gruff voice spoke from behind me. I whipped around, but the speaker had already turned and left. A dull clopping fading down the hallway. Did he ride his horse down here? What kind of weird place was this? Why did this 'princess' want to see me? and why did he say, whatever I was. I'm a human, same as him, right? I checked myself out quickly. Two legs, two arms, head, with 2 eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, and a throbbing lump on the back. Ok. I admit, that one is new, but as far as I can tell, still human.

Ah. I get it. I must have been seen in the castle, and mistaken for an intruder. they must of clonked me over the head, and threw me in the dungeon to be question, but I hardly think that the princess would need to take care of that personally. Considering the castle, dungeon, princess, and any lack of electronics or technology, it would seem this is some sort of medieval setting. Did I somehow time travel? The still throbbing lump in the back of my head seems to prove this isn't a dream.

"Ah. So you are awake, young human." a regal voice calls from behind me "I haven't seen one of your species in a very long time."

"What do you mean 'my species'? I'm as hum..." My voice trails off as I turn around, and spotted the speaker for the first time. Wings, and a horn, with a long flowing mane of greens, blues, and pinks that seemed to flutter and billow in a non-existent breeze. A gold tiara adorned her head around her horn, and her white coat glistened in the torchlight and her purple eyes regarded me with almost curious enthusiasm. She most definitely wasn't human. Princess Celestia stood before me.

"I...but...wha...you..here...'' I started to have teensy bit of a panic attack. Surely that bit is slightly acceptable, when a character you know from a TV show happens to appear before you...right?

Deep Breaths, Me. In...Out. In...out. Good. Now lets try to speak a bit. okay?

"You're Princess Celestia. Aren't you?" I manage to speak at last. '' But how can you possibly be standing here?"

"Yes. I am indeed the princess of these lands. Do you find it odd that I be standing in my own castle? I for one, am more curious to the fact you know who I am." Celestia speaks with a regal, but sweet motherly sounding voice.

''Uh...well... I do happen to know who you are, yes. but..." I trail off as I attempt to phrase this in was way that wont sound...well, batshit crazy. "I can't really say right now, but I have my reasons to doubt why I might be seeing you in front of me. Lets just say that. I think a better question right now, is how did I get here." The second part to that statement is more of my own thoughts, but I seemed to have said it aloud, as the princess responded.

''By here, do you mean the dungeon, or Equestria?''

" Yes." I respond quickly, with a smile. The princess looked a bit confused. "Sorry. It's a joke I share with a friend of mine. If offered choice between two things that are both applicable, we just answer yes...bit of an...inside...joke.'' I explained with an embarrassed chuckle. "To be honest, a bit of both, but mostly Equestria. I guess I was found in a castle room, and was subdued and brought to the castle dungeons for questioning, but the bigger question is what was I doing in the castle to begin with, and I'm sorry, Princess, but I am afraid I don't really have the answer to that. You see..."

"You are not a natural resident of this world. I already had a feeling this was the case. I am afraid I cannot speak for your own world, but here in Equestria, magic is a common thing. It is not hard to imagine something from our world may have pulled you here. Either way, I think it is safe to presume that you were not in the castle of your own volition, nor that you seem to have any evil intent. You shall be released shortly, but I am afraid there is due process that you must wait here for a bit longer. Oh..."

As she spoke, a wisp of smoke whisked down the hallway, materializing into a scroll, which began glowing with brilliant blue aura, as her horn did the same. The scroll unfurled, and Celestia read aloud.

" ' My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the... that something really bad is about to happen! For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.' It is a letter from my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

My heart skipped a beat as I hear Twilight's name. Holy crap. I'm actually here in equestia, I could actually meet the mane six!

"Hmm. This gives me a bit of an idea. Human, what may I call you? I fear that simply referring to you as 'human', while efficient may be quite rude.." The princes muses for a moment, before looking up to me.

" Uh, I'd rather keep my real name to myself, for the time being. I usually go by the name Fawkes on the internet though...

"Internet? Well, Fawkes is most certainly an odd name. I feel you more seem to be a...Firefly Solstice. Is it okay if I call you that instead" The princes asks with a mischevious smile. I found it a bit hard to figure out whether she was kidding or not, but knowing her, she probably was.

" I'd rather you just call me Fawkes please." I said. The princess looked slightly downtrodden. Had she actually wanted to call me that? "I don't dislike the name, it's actually kind of cool, but Fawkes is just much more familar to me."

" Well, Fawkes, In return for your release from my dungeon, and as I am sure you have not a place to stay for however long you will be in this world, I shall be tasking you with a mission. I want you to accompany my most faithful student as she travels to Ponyville to ensure preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration are coming along. I request that you help her keep her muzzle out of these fairy tales, and maybe even make some friends? I fear her studies consume a bit much of her time, and while her potential is amazing, I feel she needs to learn the importance of relying on others to truly learn the lessons she will need."

Taking a sheaf of parchment out and a quill out of nowhere, she quickly scrawls a letter back to Twilight, speaking slowly as she writes.

" My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely, but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books! My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends. I shall be sending an additional guest with you as well, for I feel he will make a great subject of study for you, and perhaps might keep you focused on the task at hand. Please treat him well, as he will seem very unlike anything you have ever seen before." Once the letter was complete, it sealed itself with a ribbon and wax seal, before dissipating back into a wisp of smoke, and vanishing into the air.

"Come. Let us go back up to the main castle, so that we can prepare you for your journey. I will provide you a room for the night, and I would like to converse more, in a more proper setting. Tomorrow you will meet up with my student, Twilight Sparkle. I'm sure she will be very interested to meet you once she learns of your origins." She says with a small chuckle.

"I'm sure she would. What about those due processes in getting me out?" I ask, following after the Celestia's retreating form.

"I'm the princess. I can allow prisoners to go free as I wish. I was just planning to leave you there until I came up with something to do with you." I heard her say as she led me out.

"Of course you were..." I mumbled to myself. Trollestia strikes again, I guess.

As we exited the dungeons, and entered the main floor halls, I asked the Princess a question.

"So, are we going to meet your student now, Twilight Sparkle was it?" I figured I should feign ignorance a bit, as it's not _too_ unlikely that I'd know the name of the Princess of Equestria, as she has been around for over a thousand years, but if I told her I know the names of Twilight and her soon to be friends, that would definitely raise some unneeded flags.

"Not yet. I figured we would wait until morning for that. It is starting to get late, and I'm sure she has a lot of studying to do..." The princess chuckled to herself about her little joke as I looked up at the large windows lining the passageways, and noticed that it was indeed turning dark out. I had never really noticed that the day Twilight arrives at Ponyville, was not the same day she received the letter from the Princess asking her to go. "I am sure that by now, you must be getting hungry. You've had a busy day, infiltrating castles, and exploring dungeons."

"I wasn't infiltrating!" I retorted, turning quickly to face the princess again. "I still don't know how I arrived in the castle."

"I know you do not. I was merely making a clever joke. Shall we talk about it, while we dine? It is not everyday you have a chance to eat a the same table as a Princess. I would also like to know more about how you got here, and what where you come from is like."

We entered a small room, off the side of the main dining hall, with a cozy low sitting table, with some large cushions around it. A large spread of salads, fruits and veggies sat upon the table.

"This is my personal dining space. It is used when I am having small gatherings with friends, or students, or when I simply want to escape to a quieter place sometimes. As much as I love my position and my land, It can be exhausting from time to time." I shall allow you the chance to get something to eat here, and I shall provide you with a resting chamber for the night. Tomorrow, we shall be sending you to Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle, and her assistant. I ask you to help her carry out her duties preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration, and assist Spike with anything he may need as well." The Princess said, as she sat down at one of the cushions, and floated an orange over to herself. The peel separated itself from the fruit, pith and all, and she started taking dainty bites of the sections.

I sat down, watching mesmerized, at the magic in action. Snapping myself back to the conversation, I look at her and ask "Why are you so trusting of me. I just appeared here, in the castle, as if by magic, was knocked out by one of your patrolling guards, and thrown in the dungeon. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the hospitality you are showing since I got out, but shouldn't you be wary of a strange new creature like me?"

"Well, Whilst humans are indeed lost among time, there are legends dating back thousands of years, even before my time, of humans existing in our world. It is unknown if they came from somewhere else, and returned there, or if they were native to this land, and left, or died out. Your kind is not unheard of, but I still presume you will be getting a lot of odd glances and questions about your species from the people of my kingdom. As to why I can trust you, I have a set of magic spells we can use to detect if one is lying, or has evil intent. We use these when interrogating potential threats to our kingdom. Very few unicorns have the potential to use them however. I believe only myself, and the head of my royal guard, Shining Armor, are the only residents of the castle that are capable of it."

I sat there looking stunned. I'd never heard of magic like this in the show. She might be making it all up, not like I would know any better either way. Putting that aside for a second, I asked "Why send me to ponyville though? To be honest, it sounds like Twilight should have the preparations under control, if she is as astute as you make her out to be. What is the point of my going?"

"Well, there is not much of a point of you staying here either. You claimed to be from another world, and as you are still here, I am supposing you have not a way to return by yourself. If there is anyone who may be able to figure it out, it is Twilight Sparkle. She is very intelligent, and loves to study. You would also make an excellent side project for her. I am sure she would like to document everything about you and your species. She and Spike also have a bit of a habit of getting sidetracked with other less important things, so I would like you to keep her on track for the celebration. I think the two of you should take time to meet many of the residents in Ponyville. Twilight has been neglecting social activities in lieu of studying, when a balance of both is necessary to live a full and proper life."

"Yeah I get that one. I'm a bit of an introvert myself. It may be nice to meet some new people. I'm sure Ponyville has some interesting peop...ponies for us to meet."

"Now, let us move onto other topics. I have a few questions for you. First, can you remember anything of how you arrived here in Equestria?"

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to remember. "No. I can't remember anything that tells me why I am here. I just remember falling asleep in my bed, and waking up here. Everything else in between is...missing. It's odd." My eyes snap open as I come to a sudden realization. "It's like I am missing memory. Usually when I sleep, there is still recollection of the passage of time. Dreams, waking up to use the washroom, something. but, my memories, simply cut off when I recall laying in bed and closing my eyes. I don't fall asleep that fast usually."

"Hmm. Is that so?" Celestia looked at me, bemused. "It seem very convenient that there is simply a bit of missing memories, but you do not seem to be lying. I shall take your word for it for now. If you remember anything, let me know immediately through Spike. I want to assess any possible danger your being here may pose. I do not see you as dangerous, but if someone can sneak you into my castle, who else might be next?"

"I never thought of it that way. I see. I will, Princess. The moment I remember."

"Good. Thank you. My second question. Where are you from? Tell me about yourself. Tell me who Fawkes is.

Ah. Right. I forgot I had given her that name back in the dungeon. I thought for a minute on how to put this.

"Well...as you guessed earlier, I don't think I'm of this world. My world, to my knowledge, doesn't have magic, dragons, or talking equines, to point out a few things.

In my world, I live on a planet called Earth. I live in a democratic country called Canada, which is separated into provinces. All over the world, many people of different races live out their lives. Instead of magic, we use electricity and technology. We use machines and constructs, such as dams and fans to capture the natural energy of the world, and convert it into a form we can use to power everyday items." My thoughts strayed to the various devices like cash registers, phonographs, the arcade booths from 'Hearts and Hooves Day' and Twilight's lab equipment... "You guys actually have similar technology to what we have in my world, but here they seem to be powered by magic, rather than electricity."

"Hmm.. and how would you know of these devices here in this world? You just arrived here, and spent most of your first day unconscious, or in a jail cell did you not?"

Crap. She's sharp... I slipped up. "Uh...well... I can't go into much detail, but I think I mentioned that I had information about this world before I came here. I can't really say much, and I doubt you would believe me anyways."

"Try me, Fawkes. I have lived many years, and seen many things, both wondrous and horrifying. You would be surprised what I will believe these days."

"Well... It's like this. Imagine if you read a story book, but then found your way into the story. Would you tell the hero about what challenges lie ahead? I'm afraid to say."

The Princess looked at me, with a look I couldn't quite get. was it confusion? Wonder? Anger? She didn't say anything for a few minutes, as she quietly collected her thoughts.

"Are you saying that this is a similar situation? That you have future knowledge of things to come? I think knowing this information would be beneficial to my kingdom. I could put a stop to catastrophe before it happens. Please tell me."

"Well, I can't. I'm sorry Princess... That knowledge can be dangerous. In attempting to stop one disaster, you could potentially cause a much worse one in its place. Besides, I'm not sure exactly what use my knowledge may have. I can already see a major difference that may change the very nature of the events to come."

"Oh, what is this major difference?" The Princess asked, her voice full of curiosity.

"Me. I'm not present in the original story, nor am I taking the place of any character. I'm like a sticky note added onto the page of the story I don't belong. I'm extra."

"That is true, I suppose. Your presence here could affect the knowledge you have. Well, then I ask of you. Can you help guide my student on the paths that seem right based on what you know? I at least could feel comfort if I know that someone else is watching out for her."

"Of course I will. I promise." As the help cleared away the last of the food and dishes, i stood up from the table, and the Princess followed suit.

"This guard here will escort you to your sleeping quarters for the night. I must apologize, the beds are not designed for one of your size, so the bed may be a bit small for you. I shall send a wake up call to your room in the morning, who can escort you where you need to go."

"Sure, thanks, but one question, your Highness. What about clothes? All I have is what I was was wearing yesterday." I motioned to my body, where I was wearing a blue cotton T-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans, among other unmentionables... Hmm. Odd. I didn't wear jeans to bed... oh well. "I have nothing else to wear, and clothes of my shape and size aren't exactly common."

The princess thought for a few seconds, and said "Once you get to Ponyville, keep an eye out for a suitable tailor. Once you find one, contact me, and I can send a requisition to them for a collection of outfits you may wear while here."

With that, She left the room. I turned to the guard, and gestured for him to lead on. Upon arriving in the room, I looked around. It was a simple bed chamber. One four poster bed in the room, with a nightstand. A small vase of flowers stood on a table beneath the one window. Looking back at the door, a simple slide lock lay upon the back of the door. After thanking the guard for his help, I lay down on the bed, and process the events of the day, and my thought coming for the future, until I fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2 - Ponyvill Cast Call

**Chapter 2: Ponyvill Cast Call  
**

 **Knock. Knock, Knock...** A sound rang out through my bedchamber, rousing me from my sleep. I looked around, bleary eyed, and mumbled to myself a little.

"Hmm...wha? Whazzat?" Wait...where am I again? I looked around taking in the four poster bed, and solitary table with a vase on it, below the window, before the memories of the previous day came flooding back. That's right. I somehow woke up in what appears to be Equestria. I met princess Celestia, who tasked me with going to Ponyville with Twilight, to prepare for the summer sun celebration. Right. That happened...

 **Knock. Knock. Knock.**

"Sir. It is time to rise. You are wanted in the main foyer to prepare to set out. Please gather your belongings, and come with me when you are ready."

A voice called out to me from the other side of the chamber door. I didn't recognize it. It might just be some guard, or castle help.

"I'll be right there" I shouted lightly at the door. I crawled out of bed, still wearing the same clothes I was yesterday, as it is all I really had. I reached over to the bedside table, and grabbed my glasses and watch and put them on. I'm not really sure if the watch even corresponds with the time here. I was a little preoccupied yesterday, so I never checked.

As I had now gathered all my belongings, which was everything I happened to be wearing or had in my pockets, I walked over to the door, unlatched it, and exited. A snooty butler pony awaited me in the hall. He was wearing a black coat over the front half of his body, and wore a pair of small glasses that sat upon his muzzle.

"Good to see you finally made it out here. I had feared you may have gotten lost in your sheets, and was about to call a guard to rescue you." The guard says, as he turns and walks away. "This way sir. Please follow me."

I follow the pony back towards the main hall of the castle again. A thought came to mind as I walked.

"Isn't the princess here to see us off?" I asked, adjusting my glasses, and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"The princess is busy with other matters concerning the preparations here for the festival. She has no need of overseeing a simple task such as this." The butler responded as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "You shan't be seeing her until this evening when she goes to Ponyville to perform the summer sun celebration.

As we arrived in the main hall, the butler stops and turns around, pulling a small letter out of the pocket of his jacket, and holding it out to me...with his teeth. Right they do that here. "The Princess asked I give you this. Good day."

With that, he trotted off, leaving me at the top of the stairs down into the main foyer. As I looked down the stairs, I saw a glimpse of a young purple unicorn fiddling with some stuff in a small saddlebag, while a short purple dragon checks items off on a list he is holding... Same old Twilight...wait. I don't remember her having saddlebags when she arrived in Ponyville in episode one. Putting the matter side, I quickly open the letter the butler gave me and give it a quick scan.

"Dear Mr. Fawkes. I apologize that I cannot be here to see you and Twilight Sparkle off on your trip. I am sure that Twilight has many questions she wanted to ask me, but something sudden regarding the celebration came up, and I must attend to it here, before traveling to Ponyville later tonight. Please tell my most faithful student that I am most sure she will accomplish her tasks dutifully. I also request that you ensure she keeps her head on the task, and out of those story books for the time being. I wish the greatest of luck to the three of you, and I shall hope to see you tonight, at the celebration. Regards, Princess Celestia."

Wait...three of us...oh. Right. Spike. I fold the letter up, and put it in my pocket. I take a deep breath and take my first step down the stairs...and miss.

"Holy shi-" is all I manage to shout, before i find myself nearly tumbling headfirst down the stair. I manage to grab handrail, and steady myself. Looking down at the stair, I notice that each step is quite shallow with a wider step. That make sense. Most of the ponies here have much shorter legs that I do. Even the princess barely came up to my head level, and I'm about half a foot under 6'.

"Are you okay?" a curious voice asks me, making me loop up from the steps. as I do, i come face to face with violet eyes. How did she get up here. She was several hundred meters away...wait. She can teleport. I freeze up. I am literally face to face with the BEST PONY IN THE SERIES. holycrapholycrapholycrap. Ok. Breathe here. Gotta keep calm. lets not freak out. I don't know her. remember? Just act normal...ish.

"uh. Yeah thanks. The stairs here are a bit shallower then where I come from. I miss-stepped. Uh. How did you get up to me so fast. Weren't you down there, by the...What Is that?" I ask, pointing at Spike. Better start cementing my alibi now.

"Oh. That's Spike. He is a baby dragon, and he is my assistant, and one of my closest friends. Twilight says, clearly not happy with my calling him a that, rather than using a more personal pronoun. "I also have mastered the teleport spell. My special talent is magic. I'm very good at picking up new spells. It's always so interesting to read about a new spell and try it out for yourself. The other night I was reading "The Applications of Non-Newto-"

"Uh, right. My name is Fawkes. Would you happen to be Twilight Sparkle?" I quickly cut her off, figuring a quick apology would be less painful than letting her go on a monologue of a new book she was reading. I hold my hand out for a handshake, before realizing that not only am I considerably taller than her, I am also higher up on the stairs than her. Also,hooves. With a sheepish grin, I lower my hand. She holds out a hoof, and I, after fiddling around figuring out how to grasp it, take her whole hoof between my thumb and pinky ,wrapping my hand around the outside of her hoof, shaking it carefully.

"Yes. I am Twilight Sparkle. Are you the one the Princess mentioned in her note yesterday? I wasn't sure what to think when she wrote that you would 'be unlike anything I've ever seen before, but now I understand. Sorry for asking, but, what exactly are you? What is your species?"

"Wow. That's not actually something I'd even thought I'd be asked. Don't worry about being rude. If I were in your position, I'd be curious too. In fact I am, I've never actually met anything like you before either. I'm a Human by the way. As far as I know, I'm from a different world, and somehow got pulled into this one. the Princess hopes that maybe, once we are done at the celebration, you could help figure out how I got here, and maybe even figure out a way to send me home. In exchange, I am to assist you and spike in your duties, and submit myself to be studied, in case you would like to know more about me."

"A human huh? I've read about them somewhere, but one has never been seen. We all thought they were a legend. a made up creature ponies put in stories."

"Uh, Miss Sparkle, we should probably head out. Spike seems confused, and we have limited time." I say, gesturing down to Spike, where he stares back at us, scratching his head with the quill he is holding.

"Right. I want to get this Celebration stuff out of the way quickly, I have important studying to do." Twilight says resolutely. "By the way, you can just call me Twilight. Miss Sparkle seems a bit to formal for me. It weirds me out just a bit."

"You got it, Twilight. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Mr. Fawkes, or should I just call you Fawkes?"

"Please do." Twilight and I reach the spot where Spike awaits us.

"Twilight, the chariot is ready whenever you need to leave... Who is this thing?" Spike says, pointing a clawed thumb at me. I admit, it actually kind of hurts, being called a thing.

"Spike! Don't call him a thing. That's rude. This is Fawkes. He is a Human from another word that somehow managed to get lost in Equestria. The Princess wants him to come with use, to help, so we can figure out how to help him. Of course we got bigger problems to solve once we get there."

"Hi Spike. It's nice to meet you." I crouch down and hold out a hand. He takes it in his claws, and gives it a light shake." I admit, it's nice to see another guy with fingers." I chuckle, waggling my fingers in front of him.

"Yeah, Hooves are cool and all, but there are things you just can't scratch without proper claws." He leans in closer and whispers "Between you and me, Twilight makes me scratch the itches on her back, because she can't do it with her hooves. Pretty sad right?"

"What are you two whispering about" Says a voice from the door. I look up to see Twilight leaving out the main door " Let's go you two. We don't have all day."

I straighten up, and give Twilight a big mock salute.

"Yes Ma'am! Right away Ma'am!" I say, trying to look as serious as I can (and probably failing...)

Twilight just lets out a sigh, and trots out through the door. Looking down at Spike, who just shrugs his shoulders; we pick up the remainder of the bags, and follow Twilight outside.

As I walk up to where Twilight was standing, putting the bags in the chariot with magic, I stop to admire the interesting vehicle. I've never exactly seen a chariot before. Despite all the rumours, Chariots tied to moose are not the primary mode of transport in Canada. I walk up to the two Pegasus stallions hitched up to the chariot, and remember that they are actually people, not just animals, like in my world.

"Uh, Thanks... I guess, in advance...for taking us to Ponyville?" I ask, doubtfully.

"Uh...sure." One of the stallions replies quickly, as he keeps his gaze forward, apparently attempting not to look at me or make eye contact. Realizing that I am not exactly...wanted at the moment, I head back around to the other side where Spike and Twilight are. They are just finishing packing the last bag in ( the chariot has a compartment under where you stand, for luggage) and the three of us clamber into the chariot. Twilight takes front and center, as she did in the show, and spike stands to her left. I squeeze in on her right, but my dimensions make it a bit odd. The chariot barely comes up to my waist, as Twilight herself is only about a head or so above my waist.

"Are we going to be able to take off with me here? I'm heavier than anything they must usually lift..." I ask Twilight, gesturing at my overall size as a whole

"Don't worry. Pegasus can fly not just because they have wings. They also contain an innate sort of magic, that also allow them to walk on and manipulate clouds. This magic also makes pulling loads like this a trivial matter to a well trained Pegasus."

As she finishes her statement, the pegasus stallions spread their wings, as I watch in amazement. Their wingspan must be at least 8 feet. It was breathtaking. Or maybe that was the breath getting knocked out of me, as I fall backwards onto the floor, as the chariot shoots off like a bullet, the stagnant air that had been before me just moments before pushing me over as I get pulled along. I start sliding, off towards the open end of the chariot, and before I know it, I've slid off the end, and am now looking down at the ground falling away below me. I had managed to wedge a foot, and an arm into the space between the footstep at the base

"HOLY SHI...HELP!" I manage to scream, as I quickly attempt to make the decision on whether or not I should be wetting myself right about now. Twilight and spike wheel around, and spike jumps to grab my other arm, flailing around behind me in an attempt to find purchase with which I could pull myself back up.

"Fawkes! Hold on" I hear Twilight shout from behind me.

"I AM HOLDING ON!" I shout back.

Twilight concentrates her thoughts, and I see a violet aura start to form around what parts of me I could see at this angle. Suddenly, it's as if the world around me has stopped exerting any sort of force on me, and I end up being moved up and back onto the chariot. As I rest my back along the wall, I reach behind me and grab the edge of the chariot and hang on.

"Well, that...was more...excitement...than I usually see...in one day..." I state, my words punctuated with heavy breaths. I don't exactly work out regularly. Hanging on for dear life is actually quite exerting, now that I've tried it for myself. "So, Twilight, what's the plan for when we land?" I continue, now that I had a second to catch my breath.

"Well, Our task is to meet up with each of the ponies managing a particular aspect of the Celebration: catering, music, decoration, and weather management. I intend to get these all done as quick as I can, so that get back to my studies on the Mare in the Moon. Time is limited." Twilight explains.

"Uh... Mare in the Moon?" I figure I'd humor her in asking what that meant, as I rightly shouldn't know..."

"Oh, It's this stupid thing Twilight thinks might happen." Spike speaks candidly. "She thinks some magical Nighthorse Loon or something is gunna show up and spread eternal night. Ever since I told her the Princess set us up to stay in a library while in Ponyville, researching it has been all she can talk about."

"One, Spike, It's Nightmare Moon. Two, It's more than just a crazy thought. Everything matches up with the prophecy, so I need to be ready to stop her." Twilight said, rather vehemently.

"What about making friends? The princess told you to make some friends while in Ponyville?" Spike retorted.

I chanced a look over the edge, and realized we were starting to descend into Ponyville. My heart rate started to climb. Wow. I'm actually here...

"She said to do check on preparations. I am her student, and I shall do my duty; but the fate of Equestria doesn't rely on my making friends.' Twilight said, with a tone of finality.

"Snrkk." I snorted, as I attempted to stifle a laugh I couldn't hold back.

"Something funny, big guy?" Twilight shot at me, as she turned and jumped out of the chariot"

"Nope. Just laughing at something in my head." Yeah, the memory of her literally recalling that statement and realizing just how wrong she was. This will be one hell of a trip. I stand up, and step out of the chariot, and spike hops down beside me.

"Thank you, Sirs," Twilight addresses the Pegasi that flew us here, and they both whinny proudly, and then fly off, turning around and heading back to Ponyville.

I turn around, and just about faint from attempting to take it all in. I glance around. I can see Roseluck's shop, SugarCube Corner is just around one, and in the distance in on a hill, I can see an outline of what can only be Sweet Apple Acres. I did it guys. I'm here. Ponyville.

I turn around, and see Twilight face to face with a certain overly pink pony.

"Maybe some of the ponies here have interesting things to talk about. You'll never know unless you try." Spike says, motion to Pinkie Pie who happens to be waiting calmly for the event to take place.

Yeah, Twilight. It's easy. Here. Watch this. " I state, walking up to Pinkie. "Hi there. My name is Fawkes. This here is Twilight, and Spike. We were sent here from Canterlot, to check on preparations for the summer sun celebration. We need to get to Sweet Apple Acres. Can you help us out? We're new around here."  
Pinkie stares at me for a few seconds. I chuckle lightly, hoping this will turn events from canon where she simply gasps and runs off.

" Hi there! You're new to town? OH MY GOD I GOTTA THROW YOU A PARTY! I got to go prepare!" Pinkie screams, and she goes to turn around and run off. I quickly grab her tail, as she zooms off, her tail stretching like taffy, before springing back, bringing the excitable pink pony back with it. "Yeeeeeeeessss? Oh right, Sweet Apple Acres. You wanted to know where it was right? Oh my god. Are you a human, I read all about you. I also dreamt about you once. Itwasawesomealthoughiusallydreamaboutfoodmostlycandybutitwasstillawesomeididntthinkyouexis-"

I qucikly reached out and grabbed her muzzle lightly closing her mouth. I didn't need her going all motormouth on us.

"Sorry for that Pinkie. But we really need to get going. Can you just tell us where...the...farm...is?" Crap. I just realized. I don't think she told us her name yet...

"Oh my GOD! Are you psychic? or from the future? or from another planet? or from another WORLD? How did you know my name? My name is Pinkie Pie! But you just said that! That was cool!"

"Uh...Sorry, I didn't know what to call you, so I gave you a nickname...based on your colour? You are very...pink, so Pinkie." I quickly said on the spot, looking over at Twilight, who was scanning me carefully, an odd look on her face.  
"Oh! That makes sense! I am pink! But you wanted to go to the farm right? Just go right down this road and out of town. You will come to the farm in a few minutes after that. It's just on the edge of Ponyville! I gotta go know. I gotta go plan your party! I never threw a party for a human before, so I gotta make it interesting! Like you!"

"You really don't need to throw us a party" Twilight and I spoke at the same time. We glanced at each other and back at Pinkie. Twilight stepped forward and continued speaking. "Thanks, but you wont need to throw us a party. We are just in town until after the Celebration, and then we will be back off to Canterlot. Thanks anyways. Ms...Pie?"

"Just Pinkie. Ms. Pie was my mother. Hee hee hee." Pinkie laughed gleefully. "But of course I gotta through you a what I do! I through parties for all my friends, and I'm friends with EVERYBODY! And since we met, we can be friends too! Gotta go!"

Pinkie zoomed off, leaving a cloud of dust shaped exactly like her, which started to dissipate a second later, until there was nothing left of it.

"Wow. That was weird." Spike says, summing up the whole encounter in a simple phrase. "She was really...loud? Excited?"

"Either way, we know where we are going now. Thank you, Fawkes." Twilight states looking at me. "A few questions though. How did you know that we were going to Sweet Apple Acres? I hadn't mentioned that yet. Also, how did you know that ponies name? Is there something you need to tell me Fawkes?"

Damn it. She's sharp. Should have figured she wouldn't believe my story. Gotta be more careful.

"Well, Uh, Celestia told me last night. Um... Something about catering at the local farm, a Seamstress doing decorations, a weather mare clearing the clouds, and someone making music?" I add an air of uncertainty in my tone, in hopes it helps me sound like I'm recalling this from last night. " And I told you. She was pink, and she didn't tell me her name. So, Pinkie. I just made it up. Coincidence."  
"You didn't call me Purply. Nor did you call spike Dragony." Twilight retorts.

"I already knew your name. Celestia told me, and I was there when she wrote that letter to you. As for Spike, I'm pretty sure I asked what he was. I'd never seen a real dragon before. My world doesn't have them. Not as far as we know, anyways." There. That should keep you happy. No more probing for now. "Anyways. We better get going. Stuff to do and all that jazz." I hold a thumb out in the direction that Pinkie showed us.

"Right. I guess we should go. Come on Spike." She began to trot off, Spike running alongside her.

"Oh, what about all the luggage? I never saw you take it out of the chariot." I asked, looking around. The chariot had already flown off, shortly after we disembarked.

"I teleported it to the Library that we will be staying at." Twilight says, not even looking back. I follow her as we walk out of town.

Pinkie's directions were pretty accurate. It was just a short walk out of town. Five, maybe ten minutes, and we started to see apple trees come up on both sides. we climbed a hill in the road, and say the sign straight ahead, joining the fenceson both sides with a gate. The sign was emblazoned with the name of the farm; "Sweet Apple Acres."

"YEEEEEHAW!" A wild shout invades our ears as we pass the gate into the farmland proper. A quick look in the direction it came from reveals an orange mare, wearing a Cowboy hat, running from tree to tree. She stops at one, springs her real legs back, and bucks the tree. Hard. My god, it sounded like a gunshot. Note to self, stay on apple horse's good side. Last thing I need is her hoofprints on my face, or it will probably be the last thing I ever get.  
"Ugh. Lets get this over with." Twilight grumbles, as she trots over to where Applejack was. "Good Afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle..." She starts, before suddenly starting to vibrate furiously. Applejack was shaking her hoof as if she was mixing a cocktail.

"Well Howdy-do, Ms. Twilight! A pleasure making your acquaintance." I'm AppleJack! We here at Sweet App..."

Not wanting to hear her whole speech quickly move in and rescues Twilight's hooves, but grabbing on to AJ's myself.

"Sorry to interrupt. It's quite rude of me, but we are in a bit of a hurry. My name is Fawkes. Nice to meet you." I say, shaking her hoof firmly. "Twilight and here were sent from Canterlot to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration? I heard you are in charge of the catering." I hear Spike sniggering behind me, and I glance back, seeing him grab Twilight's still shaking hoof, in order to stop it.

"We sure as sugar are! Would you like to try some samples?"

"As long as it doesn't take too long, we would love to." Twilight replies, but Applejack had already run off before she finished her statement, and re-emerges from the front door of te house with a Triangle and striker.  
"SOUPS ON, EVERYPONY!" Applejack shouts, as a flurry of action starts around us. We get pushed haphazardly aroun the orchard, as a table, cloth, and stools are set up, and the family starts piling sweets and pies and pastries on the table, as Applejack rattles off their name and treats.  
"...Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp... GASP... Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith..." She states, shoving apples our direction. "Up an at 'em Granny Smith. We got guests!

"Wha...soups on?" The ancient mare wakes from her nap, blundering over to the table. I take a bit of the apple I was given. Holy crap. This is the best apple I have ever had. Its juice gushes from the flesh, its skin crackling pleasingly as I take the bite. I look over, where twilight has a mouthful that was shoved into her mouth. She chews quietly for a moment, and swallows.

"Well, ha ha ha... I guess the food situation looks handled, quite well, so I guess we are going to be on our way." She starts.

"But, aren't you gunna stay for brunch?" Applebloom puts on her biggest, teariest puppy-dog eyes, and stares at Twilight, sniffling lighty.

I kneel down next to Applebloom, and but my hand on her shoulder.

"Yes Twilight, are you going to tell this little filly that you refuse to try the food that she and her helpful, friendly, family made, just for us?" Putting on puppy-dog eyes on my own, and leaning in close my face was besides Appleblooms. "Very nice by the way. Tears were a great addition" I add, in an undertone to Applebloom.

"Thanks sir, you too." She whispers to me, between her teeth."

"Ugh...Fine. You win." Twilight says, clearly not amused by my antics, while spike snigger gleefully in the background. I turn to Applebloom, and hold out my fist, and she bumps it lightly with her hoof.

I stand back up, heading back over to the table, where Spike and Twilight has already taken stools.

We eat in silence, trying out as many things as we can. The whole apple family joins in, once we had a chance to try out most of the stuff.

"I gotta say, Applejack, I'm surprised you hadn't questioned my yet. I say, looking across the table to the orange mare. " I'm not exactly something you see everyday."

"You sure aren't. That don't mean I have a right to be all judgemental and questiony about it neither. Here at Sweet Apple Acres, Honesty and good values are important. We don't go asking things that other ponies might find rude. Well most of us don't. Some of us haven't quite learned yet." She replies, shooting a stern glance at AppleBloom.

"What? I didn't even ask yet!" She shouts defensively.

"but you were thinkin' it weren't you, little lady. You even said yet, meanin' you were planning to ask."

"Uh...sorry, Applejack. But look at him. He's all...interestin' and stuff."

"Applebloom! What did I just say. Don't be rude."  
"It's quite all right, AJ. Thanks though. I was prepare for it. I'm a human. First one here in a very long time I've been told. Not sure how I got here though. Just woke up in the castle up in Canterlot. Princess told me to come help, and here I am." I say. I hoped skimming over the whole not from this world part would avoid any odd questions.

"Well, Nice to meet you, Mr. Fawkes. Nice of you to join us." Applejack replies.

After we finished eating, and saying out goodbye, we left the farm.

"Well, food's all taken care of. Next is...weather!" Spikes says, checking something off his list, as Twilight groans beside me.

"Ugh. I think I ate too much. How do you do it Fawkes? You ate more than most of us."

"I got a lot of practice." as we started waling back into town. "I'm not the average build for most humans."

"Hmm" Spike emotes loudly. "There is supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds..."

I stop, and take a step back.

"Well she's not doing a very good job...Fawkes?" Twilight takes a few more steps, before turning to look at why I stopped, when a rainbow blurry slams into her, tossing the both of them into a nearby mud puddle.

Enter Rainbow Dash, Pegasus Pony, and flier extraordinaire.

"Twilight!" Spike shouts, starting to advance to help his friend. I put a hand on his shoulder and motioned towards the puddle.

A pair of cyan coloured wings break forth out of the mud, followed by the head and shoulders of their owner. The Pegasus looks over at the unicorn still face down in the mud, and then moves closer.

Uh...Excuse me." She says, giggling, while jumping into the air. "Here. Let me help you."

As she zooms off into the sky, I lose track of her. Holy crap she is fast. It was always hard to see exactly how fast she could move in the show. She returns shortly, with a darker coloured cloud, and positions it right above Twilight, who looks up at the cloud in confusion. I quickly grab spike and retreat to safety from under the cloud, as Rainbow flies to the top of the cloud, and starts to jump on it, dispensing a deluge of water on to the unsuspecting unicorn below. As I watch, a thunderbolt flies out of the cloud, heading right for Spike and I. Still holding the confused dragon, I leap to the side, landing in a heap nearby. Thankfully, it seems lightning travels MUCH slower here than in my world, or else I'd be quite a bit more well done.

"Whoops. Didn't mean to grab one with some thunder in it. There weren't very many wet clouds here, so I grabbed one from the storm we got planned for a few days from now. Sorry about that!"

I grumble in annoyance from the ground, as Twilight, sopping wet and clearly none to happy does the same nearby.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I overdid it a little, I guess..."

"Oh really?" Twilight shoots sarcastically " I hadn't noticed."

"Don't worry, I got you. My very own patented Rain-blow Dry!" Rainbow states, as she starts swirling around Twilight, resembling only a rainbow blur as air starts to flow from the area.

I start to pull myself up from the ground, and look over at Spike, who I must have dropped mid dive, who was already standing and staring at the blur in awe.  
Rainbow finished her spin cycle, and slowly starts to descend.

"There you go! No need to thank me. It's on the house this time."

This time? Is she expecting there to be a next time? We look over at Twilight, and all Rainbow and Spike's mouths drop in surprise. Mine curls into an odd tight line, as I attempt to stifle a smirk, before breaking out into a full on snigger.

"What. What's so funny. Do I still have some mud on my face?"

At this point, Spike and Rainbow burst out in racious laugher. Twilight's mane had become a mess of tangled hair and colour.

"Bah ha ha ha ha. Your mane! ha ha ha. It's all...floofy!" Rainbow laughs uproariously as Spike literally falls over and laughs, staring up at the sky.

"Come on...now...guys...its...not that...bad?" I manage to get out, through stifled chuckles and giggles.

" Ugh, Come on Spike, and Fawkes. This isn't the time for this. We have to go find Rainbow Dash, and get her to clear the clouds. The sky is still a mess and the ceremony is tonight!" Twilight starts to run off.

"Uh Twilight... You never asked your new friends name." I called, catching her attention, and causing her to trot over to me.

"Fawkes! We don't have time for this. We need to find Rainb..." She trails off as she stops and gets a good look at the pony who had recently accosted her. "You're... Rainbow Dash...aren't you." she asks pointedly, as if cursing herself for not noticing earlier.

"The one and only!" Rainbow shouts proudly. "I guess you heard of me, and came to get my autograph? It's gunna be way valuable once I join the Wonderbolts. Get it now, before I'm too important!"

"What I heard, was you were supposed to be keeping the skies clear. Here, you know what, let's start over. This has all be a giant mess."

"Like your mane!" Spike says in a low voice. I give him a quick light smack on the back of the head." -Ow! What?" I shake my head disapprovingly, while trying to hide a smirk. He said it, but I was thinking it...

Turning back to Rainbow, Twilight extends a hoof. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. I was sent from Canterlot to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebrations. Are you going to be clearing the clouds soon? We need them clear before it gets dark.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll get to it later. I need to get back to practicing. I gotta have my stuff ready so I can show the Wonderbolts how awesomazing I am."

"The Wonderbolts? THE Wonderbolts? The crack flying stunt team of Canterlot? The best fliers of all Equestria?"

"Yup! Those are them! They are gunna be performing at the celebration, and I wanna show them what I'm made of!"

"So, tell me Rainbow Dash," I start, catching her attention" What makes you think the Wonderbolts will even think twice about a pegasus who can't even clear the skies." I narrow my eyes, and look right into hers. "You ain't got nothing TO show them..."

Rainbow looks at me like I was some sort of smooze monster.

"Ain't got nothing? NOTHING? I can clear these skies in 10 seconds flat. Just watch me!"

Rainbow zooms off and starts bucking clouds, dissipating the vaporous puffballs left and right, until there is not a cloud in the sky.

"Hmm. Ten seconds exactly" I say, looking up from my watch. "There you go Twilight. Skies clear. Happy now?"

"Yes. Thank you Fawkes." Twilight says, as she starts to trot off.

"Hey! I'm not! What about what you said about me? What about those apples huh? Sky is clear!" Rainbow shouts indignantly from behind us. I turn around and walk back.

"Yup, It is. Figured the best way to get you off your flank and get the job done, was a little well place goading. Worked like a charm, didn't it. Catch you later RD. Awesome flying." I say as I turn back to Twilight and Spike and begin walking off. Rainbow just sits dumbfounded, trying to figure out exactly what I mean.

"Uh...bye, I guess..." She says quietly as we walk off. I look over my should and see her zoom off into the sky, and start doing loop-de-loops as she starts practicing again.

"Wow. That was amazing though. She was all Zhooom Whooom!" Spike shouts out, making airplane noises with his arms outspread. " I've never seen a pony move so fast."

"Uh huh. What's next on the list, Spike?" Twilight dismisses his antics with a wave of her hoof.

"Decorations, at Town Hall. Uh...There!" Spike points at a tall cylindrical building with a coned shingle roof. Flags of many colours fly from the top of the posts holding the several balconies in place, that encircle the building.

As we enter the building a high pitched feminine humming can be heard from the back walls. We look around, at all the ribbons, streamers, flags and pennants flutter and hang from the ceiling. There is a vast array of colours, and some sparkle or are embellished with silvers and golds.

"Beautiful!" Spike shouts, as we approach the stage at the end.

"Yes, It is. The decor is coming along really well. It's absolutely breathtaking."

"No, not that...HER!" Spike points at the stage, were a white unicorn is floating around ribbons of various colours, clearly about to put the finishing touch on the stage decor, her purple mane swaying as she checks each ribbon, before discarding it and summoning a new one.

"No...no...no...oh, goodness no. Why did I even bring this one. No...no..."

Spike starts fidgeting with his tail and fins. " Do I look alright? are my spikes straight?"

Twilight just rolls her eyes, and smiles, before stepping forward and calling out the the other unicorn.

"Good afternoon! My name is..." She started.

"Just a moment please, I am in the zone, as it were." Rarity shoots back quickly, not even looking up from her work.

I put a hand on Twilight's should as she opened her mouth again, most likely to reprimand Rarity for ignoring her as she did. I shook my head and motion towards a nearby seat. We walked over, and waited, as Rarity continued to search for the perfect accent to finish up her decor.

"Ah yes!" Rarity exclaimed as she at last tied a large red and very, very sparkly ribbon around the last post. " Sparkle always does the trick, does it not?"

" I don't know, do you, Twilight?" I scoff, lightly nudging her in the side with my elbow."

"Ugh" Twilight groans at my bad joke, as she approaches the unicorn.

"Now, yes. Sorry. How can I help youAHH HAHAAH!" She exclaims, as she finally turns around, and gets a good look at the motley crew that has joined her in the town hall. "Oh my stars! Darling, whatever happened to your coiffure? And what, pray tell are you?" She asks, holding a hoof out in my general direction.

"My what?" Twilight asks, ignoring the second question.

"Coiffure. It's French in origin. Usually used to mean a hairstyle, can also be used to reference ones headdress or hat." I state flatly, hand on my chin, as I recall the information. Also, I'm a Human. That's what I am.

"French, My darling? I do not recognize the term. It is a word from an overseas country, known as Prance. But yes, you are completely right on all accounts. I do like a stallion who knows his terminology. You...are a male, aren't you?"

"Yes. I am." I reply, a little upset that she had to clarify. I know I look weird, but I still sound like a normal person...

"Either way, I'm just here to check on the decorations. They look beautiful, by the way. I'll be out of your hair in a moment." Twilight states.

"My hair? what about YOUR hair? this is a fashion emergency! Please follow me to my boutique. I must fix that mane of yours, post haste!" She runs off towards the door, and after the three of us exchange a glance and a sigh, we follow her off to Carousel Boutique.

As we walk in, I take quick note of all the dresses and outfits around the boutique, as Rarity pulls a chair out of the back room, and motions for Twilight to sit down.

"So, Miss... sorry, but I don't believe we have been introduced? My name is Rarity, and this is my Carousel Boutique. I am a seamstress by trade, doing creations, alterations, and occasionally salon work."

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I was sent from Canterlot to check on..."

"CANTERLOT? Oh, dear you simply must chat with me sometime. It's been an absolute DREAM of mine to have my own boutique there, in the hustle and bustle of the glamorous city. Oh, but I digress, please continue."

"Uh, right. That is Spike, my assistant. He is a baby dragon, and that there is Fawkes. He is a human that somehow found himself here in Equestria, with nothing but the clothes on his back, After the celebration, I am to help him find a way home."

"Oh my, Darling. What a frightful tale. Do you have nothing else to wear at all? Rarity inquired, glancing over at me, sitting in the corner.

"Uh no. just this." I say, plucking morosely at the shirt I am wearing.

"No, no. That shan't do. I shall assist. I can have a set of simple clothes made for you by the end of the week. My treat. I would feel horrible charging someone in a situation such as yours."

" I appreciate the generous offer Rarity, but it needs not be. The Princess gave me this." I say, pulling the work order out of my pocket. "She will reimburse you any fees in providing a wardrobe for my stay here. Besides, it will be an interesting experience, won't it? creating a wardrobe for someone like me?

"Oh, very much so. Thank you Fawkes. I shall get started on that order first thing tomorrow, after the celebration of course. There we go, all done, Ms. Sparkle."

"Oh please, Twilight is fine. Thank you for your help. You're really good."

"But of course, Darling. Anything to help a friend. You simply MUST come back and talk shop with me about Canterlot some time. Are you sure you don't want to try some outfits one? I got some great ones that will suit your coat, and really bring out the colour in your eyes."

"Thanks, but no thanks. We really got to get moving on. Still things to check on for the Celebration. Thanks again for all the help." She grabs onto Spike with her magic, and drags him out, as he has just been standing there, in his love induced stupor."Let's go Casanova. We got work to do."

 **Authors comment - Someone noticed that I used the work Man when Rarity was talking to Fawkes. This was an oversight on my part. Episode 100 clearly points out that it's not exactly a well known term in Equestria. I think it has been used as an expression, (Aww man!) but never to reference a specific being. Thusly, I changed the first instance to Stallion, as it would be odd for her to say Male, given the context being used in, and then the second usage was changed to male. Thank you for the Guest who left that comment.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Butterflies and Balloons

Chapter 7: The Birds and the Balloons

"Wasn't She wonderful?" Spike exclaimed as we left Carousel Boutique and walked down Main Street.

"Focus Spike. What next on the list?" Twilight asked, dryly. as she magics Spike onto her back.

"Oh, right! Uh... Music. It's the last thing on the list." Spike responded, once again, unfurling his parchment scroll he seemingly pulled out of nowhere. I gotta keep an eye out for where they hide those things.

"Last Thing? Great. Then we could get the Library we will be staying in, and see if we can find out anything else about Nightmare Moon. Who do we need to talk to and where can we find them? I would like to finish this sooner than later." Twilight asks.

"Let's see... The music is being prepared by a pegasus. She is an animal caretaker who lives in a cabin by the edge of the Everfree Forest. She will be conducting a Birdsong Orchestra, apparently." Spike once again reads off his list.

"Great. Lets get going." Twilight says as she starts to trot off towards the road leading out of town towards the woods. I speed up my pace to match hers, which is considerably hard, considering I only have two legs, even if they are longer.

As we round a corner, and pass some bushes, we hear the sounds of birds, singing in harmony, well. mostly. One of the birds is clearly off key. The three of us peek around the bushes, and see a collection of birds of many types all sitting in a tree. At it's base is a pegasus with a soft yellow coat, and long pink mane. she hums along with the birds, in a spellbinding voice, soft and demure.

Twilight takes a breath and starts to take a step forward, but I quickly put my hand on her shoulder and pull her back.

"Ssshh. You can't just go running in there shouting at her. you'll frighten the birds!" I say, attempting to avoid repeating the colossal failure to communicate that Twilight and Fluttershy had in the canon.

"They're trained. They'll be fine. I just need to talk to her, and we can be done here." Twilight responded, rolling her eyes, and clearly just done with this whole mission.

"Well, do it quietly, and it should go faster. Bring Spike for good measure. She is an animal caretaker. You can use Spike as an ice breaker. I doubt many people have seen dragons."

"No. I'll just go to her myself. You two stay here." Twilight says, with an air of finality. She trots off around the bushes, and up to where Fluttershy is hovering around the tree, apparently talking to one of the birds. Must have been the Jay that was off key.

"Um...hi there?" Twilight asks, as she reaches just under where the pegasus was hovering."

"EEEEP!" A shrill voice cries out, and all the birds fly off. Well so much for that plan. The shy pegasus had dropped to the ground where she crouched, wth her wings folder over her like a shell, and covering her eyes.

"Um, you okay?" Twilight inquired, lightly taking a hoof and lifting the feathers covering Fluttershy's eyes. "Uh, Hello? My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm here to check on the music?"

She takes a step back, and observes, as the yellow pegasus uncovers, her head slightly, and looks up seeing Twilight. With a sigh of relief, she stands up, using her wings to daintily sweep the dust off of herself. "I'm sorry, I thought you might have been a horrible monster, come to gobble me up...or..or... something else that's really, really scary."

"Uh, nope, just a pony. I came to check on the music. It sounds wonderful by the way. Like I said before, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

With bright eyes, and an encouraging smile, Twilight looks at Fluttershy, who seemed to be actively avoiding her gaze. After a few seconds, she mumbles "i'm...Fluttershy."

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Can you repeat that please?" Twilight asks, again looking encouragingly at Fluttershy.

"My name is...Fluttershy." She meekly responds again.

Tired of watching this unfold, I shove Spike through the bush, out to where the two mares were standing, awkwardly staring around.

"Uh, Hi?" Spike says, after figuring out what had happened.

There was a huge gasp. "A BABY DRAGON! AND IT TALKS. Wow. What's you name? My name is Fluttershy. Oh my, you are so cute."

"Thank you. My name is Spike. I'm Twilight's Number one assistant!" Spike exclaims, sticking out his chest, and thumping it proudly. Suddenly, as magical aura appears around his foot, and Twilight magics him back onto her back.

"Well, we're done here. Music's great. Let's go Fawkes. we got work to do."

"Oh, you got a fox too? can I meet him?" Fluttershy asks, as I step out from behind the bush. "Oh. My. You are the strangest fox I've ever seen."

"Hi there, Fluttershy. Sorry. but my Name is Fawkes. F-A-W-K-E-S. I'm not actually a fox. I'm a human. Nice to meet you." I say, holding out a hand to greet her, as she recoils slightly at my size. After a second, she realizes I am less of a threat than I seemed and she nervously extends a wing toward my hand. I take the tip of it gently in my hand, and shake it up and down slightly.

"uh. It's nice to meet you too, I guess, Mr. Fawkes. Sorry for thinking you were a fox." She turns back to Spike, who is riding away on Twilight's back, and trots to keep up with them. "I've never met a baby dragon before, let alone one that talks. This is so wonderfully exciting. Tell me all about yourself."

"Well, what do you want to know?" Spike asks, as he turns around, so he can face Fluttershy.

"Absolutely everything! Start at the beginning!" Fluttershy responds, much to Twilight's chagrin, whom groans loudly, as she continues to walk away.

Several minutes pass as we walked back into town, as Spike seems to be telling Fluttershy his whole life story.

"And that's my whole life up until now..." Spike finishes.

"And what a coincidence. We just arrived at the library. This is where we will be staying in Ponyville until after the ceremony tonight and tomorrow morning. We got lots of work to do, and Spike needs his nap, so See you later I guess." Twilight hurriedly says, as she pushes Spike and I through the library door, and slams it closed behind us.

"Well, that was rude." Spike points out, "You can't expect to make friends if you are going to treat everypony like that."

"Well, sorry Spike, but need to get more information on Nightmare Moon so can warn Princess Celestia about the danger. I just need some time to study with a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends. Where is the light? Twilight said, just before the light flickers on, and the sound of noisemakers fills the air.

"SUUUUPRIIIIISE!" A crowd of ponies was standing in the library. Streamers and tables of food and drink lay about the main floor.

"SURPRISE" A pink pony pops up in front of us."Hi Twilight Sparkle, Hi Spike. Hi Fawkes. I threw this party just for you guys, just like I said you would. Were you surprised? huh, huh, huh? were you?"

"Uh, Yeah. I was, considering we specifically asked you NOT to throw a party, and where did you even find out where we were staying? I don't remember mentioning the library when we met earlier." Twilight asks pointedly.

" You didn't." Pinkie responds flatly. "And of course I threw you the party. I figured if you said not to, and I didn't you'd expect that. Duh. not very exciting. So I figured that if I threw the party anyways, it was be unexpected, and that would be fun, and fun things make you happy, so I figured you'd be happy. Was I right?"

"Come on Twilight. Don't worry about this nightmare moon stuff, and have a bit of fun. it's a celebration right? so let's celebrate." I said, putting my arm around her shoulders, and shaking her jovially.

I stare into her eyes, and nod, and Pinkie pops up beside me and does the same thing.

"UGH, Fine. I'll hang around for a bit." Twilight walks off towards the drink table, as Pinkie exclaims in delight from Twilight's decision to stay.

Pinkie continues to talk her ears off as she walks over to the table, and absentmindedly pours herself a drink from the first bottle she grabs. She takes a big swig, as Pinkie finishes her monologue about how she wanted to help Twilight make friends. Suddenly Twilight gasps, her face turning beet red. Steam blows out her nostrils, and her dashes up the stairs, with tears in her eyes.

"Awww she's so happy, she's crying!" Pinkie exclaimed, as she turn back toward the table.

"I don't think that's it." I say, as I pick up the bottle. "She just chugged a cup of hot sauce. Pretty weak though. 5 bits says I can chug this whole bottle!" I say, holding the bottle up.

"I'll get in on that!" Rainbow Dash says, as she lands beside me, and starts chanting. "CHUG CHUG CHUG..." The whole room starts to chant with her, as I upend the bottle and start chugging the whole thing. It burns the throat, and the spiciness unsettles my stomach sightly, but it's nothing I haven't experience before, this being a bit of a parlour trick of mine.

" YEAH! THIS AIN'T HOTSAUCE! IT'S WEEEEAAAK SAAAAAAUUUUCE!" I shout, as a slam the empty bottle back down on the table.

"Yeah! That was sooo awesome." RD says, as the party starts back up again. She pulls out a few gold coins, and hold them out." I guess I owe you five bits."

"Nah. I wasn't serious about that. I gotta go check on Twi. She hasn't come down yet." I say, pushing the bits back to her. I then head up the stairs Twilight had ascended a few moments before.

It's dark up here, so I call out lightly. "Twilight? You up here?" I noticed a door slightly ajar down the hall, light from the setting sun streaming through.

"Twilight? You okay?" I ask, sticking my head though the doorway.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was trying to study here, but the noise is so distracting."

A bundle of sheets on the bed in the room stir, and then move, as Twilight throws the blankets off herself. A small stack of books lay on the bed before her."

"Hey Twi. Can we talk? I gotta settle some stuff with you."

"Ugh. Sure. I guess." She sits up, and taps the bed beside her." What do you want to talk about? Make it quick I want to get back to studying the Elements of Harmony."

"Look Twilight. I know we just met, and I'm some weird thing you never seen before, but I need you to listen to me. Just leave this alone. The whole Nightmare Moon thing. I can't say much about it, but I got a feeling it's all going to work out. There is a bunch of ponies down there who want to be your friends and have fun. This one grey mare, ate like 5 plates of muffins. Literally fought off anyone else trying to eat them. It was pretty funny. But seriously. I know it's hard to do, but you need to trust me on this."

"Fawkes stop. There is NO reason to believe you. I'm the one who saw the signs. I tried to warn the princess, and she didn't believe me. I need to convince her that Nightmare Moon will return tonight."

"I...I know what's going to happen, Twilight. I know everything. I've been hiding something super big, since I got here."

"What? What do you mean, Fawkes? This makes no sense."

" I don't really know where to begin, and I can't tell you everything right now, but here is some things I can tell you. Have you noticed that throughout the day, I seemed to know the best way to talk to everyone? Even though I told you before, I'm a bit antisocial myself? I told you I came from another world right? Well, my worlds a bit different...well, a lot different actually from this one. Let's just say that a certain aspect of my world, gave me knowledge on whats going to happen tonight. You are completely right. Nightmare moon WILL appear tonight. But don't sweat it. The situation will resolve itself. just sit back, and get to know the peopl...ponies downstairs. It's might actually mean more than you think."

Twilight just sits there, staring at me, trying to ingest the giant deluge of information I just dropped on her.

"Wait wait wait... What?" She manages to get out." What do you mean you know what's going to happen?"

I look out the window, at the darkness outside. The sun has already set.

"Look. I'm sorry. I can't give specifics, but something in my world allows me to have knowledge of this one. I know it's hard to underst..." I start, before Twilight cuts me off.

"No Fawkes. It's not hard to understand. It's impossible. You are from a whole different world. If you somehow had knowledge of our world, we would have to have knowledge of yours. That's just how the universe works. It's not scientifically possible for something from your world to give you the power to see the future." Twilight said.

"No, it's not that I can see the future, it's that I already have knowledge of whats goin-"

"Fawkes stop. That's enough. I want you to leave. I need time to process this and study."

"Leave? Leave leave? or just leave the room?" I asked, wondering if I had just been kicked out.

"Just leave the room. Go enjoy the party. I promised the Princess I'd take care of you, and I will. Just go away for now. I'll figure out a way to send you home after tomorrow."

"But, Twili..."

"Go! I need to study. Please LEAVE."

Twilight had said the final words with such finality, that I was struck speechless. I've never seen her this closed minded, even in the canon. Suddenly, Spike bursts into the room, causing both Twilight and I to turn our heads in surprise.

"Hey guys! Pinkie is about to start 'pin the tail on the pony'. You should come play... Woah. Whats with the atmosphere in here?" Spike lifts the lampshade off his head slightly, and stares at us, before slowly backing out of the room, and closing the door.

"Well... that...happened." Twilight says, "and you are still here."

Leaving Twilight to her studies, I leave the room. My heart sank, as someone I felt I identified with, and admired, more or less hated me now. Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, just before I came into view, I quickly took a breath and put on a smile before joining the rest of the ponies downstairs.

" Hey sugarcube. Everything alright? sounds like the two of ya had a little row there." Applejack says as she walks up to me holding a bottle of juice.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted Twi to come enjoy the party, and she refused. Adamantly." I said, putting a little more venom in that last word then i really intended.

"Yeah, she seemed weird like that, but it's her loss. This is an AWESOME party. Pinkie never fails to delivery on the party front." Rainbow appears next to me and says. "Here. Have a muffin. That grey mare over there is basically forcing everyone to have one. It's a little unnerving actually considering she was like hoarding them all to herself like 10 minutes ago."

Rainbow looks shiftily over at the mare in question, a certain wall-eyed mare that I knew all too well. She shrugs and takes a bite of her muffin anyways.

"Mffmm itsh really goofd" She manages to get out, mouth still full of muffin.

"Chew yer food there RD. It's rude to talk with your mouth full o' food. Were you raised in a barn or something?" Applejack reprimands Rainbow, who just stared at her for a moment, before the two of them break into a giggle. I walk away, and head over to where Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were all chatting in a corner.

"Hey, Rarity? I wanted to thank you for today. Those clothe are going to be very useful. Are you sure there is nothing I can do to make it up to you?" I say, again, shaking Rarity's hoof as a sign of thanks.

"Oh, pshaw, darling, The princess made it an official order on behalf of the kingdom. I'll be payed my full working price. What else could I ask for. Besides, 'a friend in need' and all that. I couldn't just leave someone without a few choice ensembles to choose from. It be absolutely DREADFUL if you had to walk around in...that...for a time. Just swing by my Boutique some time in the next day or two, and we'll get you all fitted, and outfitted." Rarity says with a wink and a giggle.

I turn my attention to Fluttershy, talking animatedly with Pinkie. Geez, you'd never think this talkative little thing was the same shy pony from the canon. When you're with friends, i guess.

"Excuse me, Fluttershy?" I ask, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. She jumps and emits a small 'EEP' before turning around to see me.

"Oh, Mr. Fawkes. It's nice to, uh, see you again. Did you want something?" She asks timidly, suddenly losing all of the animated spirit she had with Pinkie, mere moments ago.

"Oh,well, I just wondered..." I said, scratching my head a bit, trying to figure out how to word this. "Do you know anything about humans? I was told you were an animal care taker, so I figured you would know about all sorts of species."

"Um...sorry no. I thought humans were just made up things. like fairy tales made to scare little fillies and colts. I'd never seen one before until today. Sorry for not knowing anything."

"Don't apologize. I just thought it would be worth a shot. So, what does an animal caretaker do, aside from...you know... take care of animals?" I ask, trying to redirect the conversation to a topic she would be more comfortable with...I hoped...

"Oh, well, mostly I take care of the wild animals in the area. I live with my pet, Angel Bunny. he's a...well...bunny. He can be such a hand full, but I couldn't ever imagine living without him. I also keep chickens, and tend to any animals who go hungry or get sick or hurt. I always have squirrels or birdies, or even a cute little bear around my house. You should come meet them some time. It might be interesting to them to meet a human."

"I'd like that, sometime. I like animals. My mother always had a lot of animals around the house, so I'm used to being around all sorts of interesting critters."

A huge bell suddenly rang out through the town, causing Fluttershy to drop to her knees and protect her self with her wings, before looking around and getting up again.

"What was that?" Twilight says, trotting down the stairs. "Is something wrong?"

"That's the bell from Town Hall." Rarity explained "it's nearly about time for the ceremony. We'd best be moving to the ceremony location."

" YOU HEARD THE PONY. EVERYONE MOVE OUT!" Applejack shouted, as ponies started to file out through the library door. I looked at Twilight, but she quickly avoided my gaze, and headed outside, as a crushing feeling hit my chest like a ton of bricks.

As we filed into the town hall, a pegasi took to the air, to give the other wingless ponies more room. Rarity and Fluttershy took their positions on the upper balcony and by the choir of birds. Fluttershy nodded, and her birds sang a trumpeting march, signalling the start of the ceremony, as a couple of pegasus shined some spotlights down on the lower stage, where Mayor Mare came out from behind the curtains and addressed the crowd.

"Good even, Mares and Gentlecolts. As Mayor of Ponyville, It is my most greatest honour to introduce to you, the pony who gives us the sun and moon every day..."

I noticed Twilight looking out the upper windows, and I followed her gaze, seeing what seemed to be several stars disappear into the moon, after which the imprint of a shadowy mare, that normally emblazoned the moon, vanished, leaving its surface bare and pale.

"The ruler of our fair kingdom, Princess Celestia!" The mayor finished her speech and with a flourish, motion to the balcony above her, as ponies cheered, and the bird sang a wondrous monumental tune. Rarity pulled the rope allowing the curtains to open.

Silence for a moment, as everyone took in the site behind, of simply empty stage. Gasps broke the silence, as Rarity went into the curtains, and popped back out momentarily.

"She's gone!" she calls out to the crowd. "I can't find any trace of her back here."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Twilight murmurs to herself as she paces back and forth on a small area "I knew this would happen this is not good!"

Screams erupted from the room, as a black sparkly mist begins to creep out from the top balcony, Rainbow Dash quickly flies in and grabs Rarity, and drops her down beside her friends. The mist coalesced into a single mass, and took the shape of a large pony. With a midnight black coat, piercing teal eyes, and shining silver helmet and collar. Her mane the same shimmery blackish blue that the mist was before, and her tail to match. Nightmare moon had returned.

"Oh, my beloved subjects. How long has it been since I' d seen your wretched, sun loving faces? Oh right. A thousand years." She laughs, her words full of malice and venom. I don't remember her language being so...colourful in the canon.

"Hey, Black Spooky! Whadja do with our Princess!" Rainbow shouted, about to dash off, if it weren't for Applejack holding her back.

"Oh? Am I not royal enough for you? Were a mere thousand years enough to strip me of my title of princess of the night? Do you foals not even know who I am?"

"I do!" Twilight calls out, standing bravely ahead of the crowd, though she recoils slightly from Nightmare Moon's intimidating aura. "You...You're Nightmare Moon! The mare in the moon that has been locked away for centuries..."

"Ahahahahaha. Very good. someone did their homework. And do you know what I intend to do, now that I am free once again?"

"You...you..." Twilight starts, I notice her knees starting to buckle from the imperious pressure that the shadowy alicorn is exuding.

" You intend to bring about night everasting!" I call out, stepping forward, in front of Twilight and holding my arm out, as if protecting her. Holy crap. I'm just about crapping myself right now. I hope she sticks to canon, and just monologues and leaves, because, i really would prefer to NOT die right now.

"Yes. I intend to make an eternal darkness, over which I shall rule, as Queen of the NIGHT! Ahahahahahaha!" An evil and thunderous laugh rings out throughout the hall. I recoil slightly from the overbearing presence, before taking my stance back and staring at Nightmare Moon again.

"You are an interesting one. What are you?" Nightmare Moon demands of me.

"I..I'm a human. I arrived in this world through unknown means, but these ponies have been nothing but nice to me, and so has the Princess. I'm going to help them, even if it kills me." Oh god, i didn't mean that. please don't kill me! I thought to myself.

"Oh hoho. Even if it kills you? Why not put that to the test?" She teases, as her horn begins to glow an ominous blue. I close my eyes, but stand firm.

"A better idea. Come to the castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. We will see how much weight your words have there. This should make things interesting for a bit... Ahahahahahaha!"

Nightmare Moon turned back into a dark mist, and leaves through the open windows, her laugh still echoing in the hall, and in my mind for a minute or so after her departure. I fall to my knees, and start breathing again. Hmm. Didn't realize I had stopped. I feel a bit light headed as I look back at Twilight.

"Why? Why did you protect me?" Twilight asks incredulously, looking at me, sitting on the floor. "And how did you know about her plan for eternal night?

"I told you. I know things. Now, we know she is going to the castle of the Two Sisters. We are going to need to com..." I start, before a blue and rainbow blur shows up right in my face.

"All right bub. Spill the beans. Who are you? Are you some sort of spy she sent? what did you do with our princess!?" Rainbow Dash starts shaking me, and interrogating me, she stared at my face, huffing wildly.

"Rainbow, stop!" Twilight pulls Rainbow Dash off of me. "Didn't you see him trying to protect me? He's on our side...I think."

"You think?" Applejack asks, joining the group "Whaddya mean, you think?"

"Well, I can't trust him completely yet, but he seems like he wants to help, and frankly, I don't think we have much of a choice either way. Come one girls...and Fawkes. Let's head back to the Library, so we can formulate a plan. We've got to stop Nightmare Moon!

Author's Note: And with that, the first episode is over. There are some interesting changes coming up, so, hopefully that will be interesting to you guys. as always, please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the general quality of the writing,


	5. Chapter 4- Darkness Eternal

**Darkness Eternal Descends on Ponyville**

As we entered the library, Twilight starts to magic books off the shelf, while Spike attempts to start to stack them. Twilight looks over at spike, and sees that the poor dragon can barely keep his eyes open.

"Oh, you poor thing. You've been up all night. Let's get you put to sleep. you are a BABY drgon after all. you need your sleep. Fawkes, can you stack these books here and start searching for anything that might have info on the Elements of Harmony, while I put Spike here to bed?"

"Yeah, sure thing Twi." I respond, grabbing the books spike has put down and starting to look through the titles. The Art of Invisibility Spells, The Art of the To-do List (of course you would have this.) Slumber 101 - Everthing You Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties but Were Afraid To Ask. (Thats out of place. We'll need it later though.) Astronomers Almanac, a LOT of daring do books...

"Found it!"

I here a shout from a bit further down, just as Twilight is trotting back down the stairs. I look up and Pinkie has pulled a large leatherbound volume with gold trimming on it. I recognize it immediately as "The Elements of Harmony - A Reference Guide"

"Great job Pinkie, but how did you find it so fast?" Twilight asks, trotting over and taking the book with her magic.

"It was under Eeee~" Pinkie says, in a sing songy voice. Of course it was. She did that in the show too...

Twilight opens the book, and starts flipping through the pages. she stops on one that has an illustration of several rocks on a vaguely familiar looking pedestal type thing.

"According to this book, there six elements of harmony, but only five are currently known. Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The last one is unknown. The last known location of these elements was in...The castle of the Two Sisters... Fawkes did you know this would happen?"

"Yeah, I did. That's one of the reasons I jumped in front of you. I was pretty sure she would just say her bit and leave." I respond, putting away the other books we took of the shelves.

"So, then do you know what the last element is, and where to find them?" Twilight asked me, looking directly at me.

"I...I do. But I can't say." I have a twinge of guilt in my heart. I want to help. I really do. I look up at Twilight, whose eyes turn almost dark as I say this.

"What do you mean you can't say? We need this info if we want to defeat Nightmare Moon!" She half yells at me. I recoil away slightly, and shrink down into a chair.

" I know, but I also know how you guys will come to learn this. If I told you, it would make the whole point moot, and you wouldn't be able to help anyways. It's like giving someone the answers to their homework. Sure it helps them now, but then on the test, they flounder, becuase they didn't properly learn the stuff they needed. I'll come along and help, but you guys need to do some things yourself, if you want to be able to take down nightmare moon." When I finish, I look up at the ponies, and see they are all completely lost at the exchange between Twilight and myself.

"Whoa there, Pardner. Slow down a minute. What's all this hooey about knowing stuff. I thought you came from another world?" Applejack was the first to speak. I figured this would happen.

" I did. Look, I really can't go into specifics right now, but lets just say a certain aspect of my world had a way of letting me get information about this world. Problem is, I can't trust it to be 100% accurate going forward. That's the other reason I can't say what's going on. I can't garuntee things havent already changed from what I know."

"Well, I don't know anything about other worlds and junk, but if Twilight says this guy is okay, then he's cool in my books." Rainbow shouts suddenly. "But now we need a plan. Where do we go, and what do we do there?"

"Well, they only thing we can do, is head into the Everfree Forest, and look for the castle. Not only is that where we will find the elements, but It's also where Nightmare Moon was headed. Problem is, she will probably try to stop us from getting there. Expect some sort of resistance on the way." I say, as Twilight nods in agreement.

About twenty minutes later, we find ourselves outside the Everfree forest. I look at the dark gnarled branches that grow from the twisted trunks. Immediately after the entryway, the light from the moon gets much darker. I look at my watch. 7:47 AM. Sun would normally be up by now, given the previous morning. Looks like since Celestia is missing, Nightmare Moon is going to get her night.

"So, no one here has entered the forest before?" Twilight asks, as all the others answer in the negative.

"I uh, live nearby, but it's too scary to go in." Fluttershy says, covering one eye with a wing, as if hiding from the forest.

"Yeah, The clouds move by themselves and stuff , so, I avoid even flying over it." Rainbow Dash says, pointing with a wing to the mass of cloud slow drifting over the forest.

"Clouds move by themselves in my world too...well, the wind moves them. We can't really do anything with them ourselves." I state, waving them off with a shake of my hand. "It's the creatures i'm worried about. Aren't there Timber Wolves and Manticores and such in here?"

"That we know of. I've even heard tales of river monsters and other phantasmagorial things in here." Applejack states, straining to look deep past the darkness that envelops much of what is inside the forest. Almost on cue, a bestial wail rings out from deep in the forest, a flock of birds fleeing from the branches of the nearby trees.

"Well, Here goes nothing, I guess. Onward?" I ask, looking toward Twilight, who has been awfully quiet this whole time. She looks at me for a second, as if trying to read me, before steeling herself and nodding once, curtly. One by one, we enter the darkness of the forest before us.

Nearly as soon as we pass the first row of trees, the darkness decends on us. While not pitch black, it made it hard to see. With a sudden thought, I started to slap my pockets. Twilight notices the sound and turns around.

"What are you doing, Fawkes? I thought something might have been sneaking up on us." She says, coming closer to where I stand.

"Looking...for...my...AHA!" I say, as I keep searching, until at last, I find a flat rectangular object in my front left pocket. "My phone. I just presumed it never made the jump with me, but when I realized that I was wearing what I had been the day before, and not what I went to sleep in, I realized I must have it with me."

"What's a fone?" Rainbow asked, hovering off the ground, to try and get a better look at it in the darkness.

"It's an electrical device from my world. We can use it to send and receive phone calls; like letters, that are spoken aloud rather than written. Phones these days can even connect to the internet, a global collection of data that anyone with an acceptable device can access; though I doubt I'll have service here. What I wanted it for, was this..."

I push the small button at the base of the front of the device, and the screen flares to life. I start back at my own lock screen. A stylized version of Twilight's cutie mark... better change that later, before anyone sees it. I swipe up from the bottom, bringing up the service panel,and hit the flashlight button. A blinding flash of white appears from the inderside of the device, causing the ponies to turn their respective heads, or shield their eyes. I take a glance at the battery life. 37%. Better make this worth it. I turn off the light again, and stow the phone away in my pocket.

"I don't have much charge left on the phone, and if that runs out, we will have no emergency light." I respond not to anyone in particular, but at the stunned faces of the ponies when i robbed them of their precious light source, leaving the forest around us seeming darker than usual with the sudden absence of it's brilliance. "It's not that dark here yet. but now that I know that's an option, we can save it for when we need it."0

We continue walking, and the forest on one side, clears out to a show a drop of about two to three hundred feet, but the gound slopes off. It's steep not not sheer. There is a fair amount of land between the path and the edge, and the forest stretches out beyond. A cloud moves out from in front of the moon, and we are suddenly swathed in moonlight, as is the forest.

"Hey Y'all look! " AJ shouts, motioning with a hoof to a shadowy shape in the distance. The fog emenating from a crevice that passes in front of the shadow makes it hardto see exact shapes, but a building of some sort is clearly rising above the trees in the distance. "I can see that there castle."

"That's great. Nicely spotted there, Applejack!" Twilight says gleefully.

I suddenly snap my head around, looking towards the forest. I could have swore I saw something dart from the forest out over the cliff. I edge closer, taking a look down the drop, peering over from as far away from the cliff as I can get.

"Careful, Fawkes. Thats's dangerous!" I hear Twilight say, as I peer over the edge.

"I thought...I saw... Never mind. Probably was my mind playing tricks on meeeohWOAH!" My statement is cut off by a sudden shake, as the ground below us seems to shake and wobble.

" What the hay is going on!" Rainbow shouts, as she and Fluttershy take to the air. The ground below me shudders, and a hunk of ground under my left foot rises suddenly, pushing me off balance . With a sudden lurch and a matching shout, I am sent hurdling down the side of the cliff, rolling and tumbling.

I flail about, screaming, trying to get a hold on something, but I am moving too fast. I land hard on a rock jutting about a foot out of the ground, and I give a howl in pain, as my ankle bends sideways with a sickening crack as my momentum throws me headfirst over the rock, and into the air. After another two or three seconds of flight time, I crash hard into the ground, and everything goes black.

 **BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...**

A steady beeping is the first thng I hear when I come too. As I wake up, I hear shuffling around me. I open my eyes, bright light instantly causing me to want to close them again.

" Hey there, Sugarcube. Good to see yer still part of us livin' folk." A voice to my right speaks, as I try to turn and focus on the sound. "Heya Twi, Fawkes here is wakin' up!"

"Hey... not so loud" I manage to get out, as my eyes start to focus on the shapes in front of me. " Aren't hospitals supposed to be quiet?"

"Now, you know i only got one volume setting." Applejack says proudly.

"Then I'll ask you to very quickly find a new one, or leave please. This is a house of medicine, and this...man...needs some rest." An unknown voice cuts in from my right. I swing my head around, and spot a butterscotch coloured pony with a brown mane, and a set of white scrubs on. A cutie mark like an ECG screen is partially visible from underneath it.

"Hey there. I'm Dr. Horse. Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" He says, looking directly at me.

"Yeah, I can hear you." I respond, still not quite up to full speaking capacity.

"Do you know who you are, or where you currently are?" He asks, magicking a flashlight and shining it in my eyes. I wince, and try to cover my eyes, but he stops me with a hoof. "Pupillary reponse is slow, but not odd for someone recovering from a possible concussion. please answer my questions about yourself"

"Oh... sorry. Yeah. My name is S...Fawkes. I'm think...I'm in a hospital?" I add an inflection of a question to that last statement.

"Good. you are in Ponyville Hospital, and your given name matches the one I received from the once who brought you here. They say they are your friends." He motions to Applejack, who is now joined with Pinkie Pie and Twilight, who all look on, worriedly.

"Yeah... They are. Thank you guys." I say, looking at them.

" A few more questions real quick, if you don't mind, Mr. Fawkes." Dr. Horse says.

"Please. Just Fawkes." I try to sit up a bit more, and sharp pain shoots through my left ankle. "AARGH!"

"Please sit still. You seem to have broken your ankle in your fall. I've mended the bones to the best of my ability, and bandaged it, but if you are not careful with it, it can refracture. sometimes even worse. Even magic is not perfect medicine. I can give you some pain killers if you want. Personally I just want to know what the lot of you were doing in the Everfree Forest. I'm guessing it has something to do with that strange mare appearing at the Summer Sun Celebration a week ago."

"Nightmare Moon? Yeah it di... DID YOU SAY A WEEK AGO?" I start, but suddenly shout, as the magnitude of his words wash over me. "It's been a week? What time is it? What happened to Nightmare Moon? Did Celestia come back?

"Fawkes. quiet. You need to rest." Twilight says, coming closer. I shut up immediately. I didn't like the tone in her voice... pity? no... anger? no... disappointment? Guilt?

"We didn't stop Nightmare Moon. She's still out there. At the Castle of the Two Sisters. We were issued an Ultimatum this morning. Every 12 hours we don't show up for her challenge, she vows a pony from Ponyville will never see the light again. Daylight or Moonlight."

"What about the elements. Did you find them? I ask, not quite feeling the full impact of what she was saying. It was like hearing through paper towel rolls. I could hear, but it was as if someone far off was trying to talk to me. We failed? How? Was this my fault? Was it becuase I fell?

"Well. We technically found them, I think, but that doesn't matter now." Twilight says sullenly. I look up at AJ and Pinkie behind them. AJ just stares at the ground, and Pinkie... I've just never seen her without a smile on her face. It looks so surreal to just see her staring at me. Like all the fun had been sucked right out of her soul.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" I ask, snapping back to Twilight.

"When we got to the Castle, there was a stone statue with 5 orbs on it. it was the Elements, I think. They turned to stone after a heavy use, according to the texts on the plinth. But then Nightmare moon showed up. We tried to call forth the power of the elements, but without the 6th one, we couldn't do anything. She destroyed them, Fawkes. They are gone. She's won. We fled; what else could we have done? We found you and Fluttershy at the base of the cliff where you fell, and we carried you back to town. It's been night ever since, and no one has seen Princess Celestia at all."

"Wait. Fluttershy was with me?" I ask, scratching my head. "why wasn't she with you?"

"well, after you fell, we tried taking you with us. We ran into a manticore in the forest. We were trying to fight it off, but then Fluttershy pointed out a thorn in it's paw. After we removed it, it was docile again. We then came across a raging stream. We figured it would be best to leave you, as we can't get you across it, so we brought you back to the base of the cliff, as it was in the open, and left Fluttershy to watch you in case any more animals came."

"so she wasn't with you in the castle?" I ask "No wonder the elements didn't work. It needs all 6 of you. Doctor, when can I walk again?"

"Well your foot has been resting for the better half of a week, so you should be able to walk anytime, but there will be pain, and I advise against any running, jumping or strenuous action, and I recommend a crutch to be used. We've had one made in your size and shape, that should work for you."

"Great. Twilight. Get everyone together, and meet me at the entrace to the forest. We are going to go stop that moldy old Mare."


	6. Chapter 5 Twilight in the Darkness pt1

**Twilight in the Darkness: Vs. Nightmare Moon**

"Look. Y'all. I know yur good folks who want to try to try and stop the big bad from ruinin' the world and all, but frankly I don't think there is anything else we can do here. I was getting the farm packed up and getting ready to get the hay outta dodge."

Applejack paced around, as we waited at the mouth of the forest again, waiting for everyone to show up, clearly not happy she'd been pulled away from protecting her family.  
"Applejack is right, Darling. We can't go sauntering off into the forest every time, this...human says we can stop Nightmare Moon. I'm not even sure we stood a chance WITH the Elements of Harmony, but not that they are gone, I'm afraid we got as much of a chance as a sunhat in a blizzard." Rarity says to Twilight, clearly hoping to get this whole mission called off.

I simply stand off to the side, not really willing to speak to anyone. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy haven't shown up yet, and Pinkie is just standing around, staring at the ground. I really feel like doing much the same. Twilight hasn't said a word since she called everyone back. She's refusing to make eye contact with me. The fact she called everyone here anyways should mean something, but this lack of communication is disheartening.

"Are we REALLY going to try this again?" A voice come flying in from the sky, as Rainbow Dash flies down to join the rest of us. "This didn't go so hot last time, and we are super unprepared for this. Do we got a plan this time?"

Rainbow looked over at me, and I could feel the stares of the other boring into me as well. Luckily I was spared from talking quite yet, but the arrival of a very apologetic yellow Pegasus.

"I'm so sorry everypony. I just couldn't get Angel Bunny to settle down. He wants us to just pack up and leave, and that really sounds like a great idea right about now. But I'd feel so bad if anything happened to you guys, so I just had to come." Fluttershy says, landing gently and looking around. Reading the situation, she just folds her hears back, and stands off by herself, staying out of the oppressive atmosphere caused by the situation.

We all just stand around, the tension so thick, it's nearly suffocating. I figure now is as good of time as any.

"I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry that I haven't been completely forward with you all. I'm sorry that I held you back last week. This whole thing is my fault. If I had been more careful, we could have beaten her last time.

"No. This is my fault." Twilight finally speaks. "The princess sent me here to make sure everything went fine, and I let her down and now she's missing. I should have studied more, instead of just running in there."

"Twi, do you really think we got a chance here? Or do you think we should just call it quits? I'm going to be honest, I'm still not sure I can trust Fawkes here as far as I can buck him. This all started when he showed up, and he claims to be from another world. Humans haven't been seen in equestria for at least a thousand years. how do we know he isn't just some distraction sent by Nightmare Moon to keep us from suceedin' in stopping her? He says he knew all about what was happening. how is that possible if he's from another world?" Applejack stares at me the whole time she throws these accusations, but I can't do anything but swallow them. As much as I know that they're untrue, they aren't baseless. frankly from her point of view, I don't see how she could be wrong...

"Well, The Princess trusted him. I can't really say I can either, but if Celestia says he can be trusted, then it's part of my mission to trust him." Twilight says. MY heart lifts a bit. Even if it for her mission, the fact that she says she is willing to give me the benefit of the doubt is the best news I've heard all day.

"Well, I say we truss him up like a pig, and bring him with us. All we need is his mouth, and he can barely walk as it is. I figure it stops him from backstabbing us if we are wrong." AJ says, pulling a lasso out of seemingly nowhere.

"No way, no how there, cowgirl" Rainbow dash flies in front of me, her limbs outstretched. "Twilight says we can trust him, because the princess does. I see no reason other than that to let him go. I said this they day I met him. I NEVER leave Ponyville hanging. Right now, we are headed up cloud creek without a paddle, and if he has a way to fix all this, that's better then turning tail and running. Plus he has that weird fone thing. I ain't never seen nothing like that before. It can't be from our world. he HAS to be telling the truth."

I put my hand on Rainbow's shoulder, and give her a non verbal thank you.

"Listen, Applejack. I know you want to protect your family. I met them, remember? They are good peopl...ponies. I want to protect them too. You've all been great to me so far. I thank you for your honesty. It's a really good trait to have. Sometimes, people just need a big dose of honesty, and I feel you are the perfect pony to be that dose." I pick up AJ's hat that fell off during her tirade, and brushing it off, put it back on her head. I turn to Rainbow Dash and smile. "Thank you, for helping me. I want to help, and we are going to need everyone here to to this. That kind of loyalty is inspiring, and it's not even to me, it's to your friends, and your town. Everyone should have a friend like you, who is loyal, and brave, and frankly, just a bit too awesome."

"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome, right? Anyways guys, we got a gameplan here? we still got a moldy old mare to beat right?

"About that. Fawkes? I need to you tell me everything. If we are going to beat nightmare moon, I need to know the sixth element." Twilight turns to me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was pleading.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but If I told you outright, you'd never be able to harness the power of the elements. Also, about them. They weren't destroyed. Only the vessels they were contained in were. Think about it this way. If I were to run full speed into a tree, what happens to the kinetic energy I use running at it?"

"Ooooh, I get it. The energy gets dispersed in the next easiest medium, motion transfer into the tree, with the rest being diffused as sound and friction. The elements weren't destroyed, they just moved to the closest available mediums. but what are they?"

"Kinetic what now? What are you guys even talking about?" Rainbow looks stunned as Twilight and I energetically talk science

"well, the energy just needs to be called into a proper medium fitting of each element. So, think about it. We have some time to get there. Let's go, it's time we put a stop to this once and for all."

As we start toward the forest, I noticed one pony linger behind, still staring morosely at the grounds. I walk up to her, and I kneel down.

"I know things are looking down, Pinkie, but now then ever, your friends need you. To be the one who keeps everyone's spirits up, and to keep a smile on everyone's face. Remember that first party, on the rock farm?"

As those words leave my mouth, Pinkie blinks, and slowly turns to stare at me.

"How do you know about that?"

I just smile, and continue.

"Remember the smiles on everyone's faces? Here's the chance to do that again. look around you, do you see any smiles? Think about in Ponyville. Any smiles there? You're Pinkamena Diane Pie. Ponyville's Premier Party Pony and Planner Extraordinaire! Who's gunna plan the party for after we win, if you're all here being a gloomy Gus? Aren't you supposed to...Giggle at the Ghosties?"

Pinkie Pie springs back to life. Its like a deflating ballon, but in reverse, all the energy rushes back inside her

" *GASP* omigod you're right! I got a party to plan after this. Alright everypony, I'm in! Lets go bring the smiles back to everyone in Ponyville...NO! IN EQUESTRIA!"

"One more thing." I call attention back to myself, "After we get out of here, I promise to tell everyone here everything. No more secrets. For all the good it's done here, I might as well take the chance. Alright, let's go!"

We all walk towards the woods, again getting swallowed up by the intimidating darkness of the Everfree Forest. After walking for a while, we come to the drop off where the cliff gave way. The road is completely ruined. the only way to go, is down. Twilight simply just teleports down, AJ, skillfully jumps from rock to rock, working her way down. Fluttershy carries Rarity down, and Rainbow helps me. carrying me under the arms, like some weird child.

"Dude, even to a pegasus, you're pretty heavy."

"Yeah, i was intending to lose some weight, but i kind got sidetracked by...this.."

After we all touched down, and double checked that everyone was all right, we kept moving on, coming to a burbling stream, with an odd wailing coming from further down the stream.

"What's that sound? I ain't never heard anything like it before" Applejack asks curiously, peering down the river at the direction of the sound.

"It's a river dragon. He's having a bit of an...issue. Twilight, you got that tonic I asked for?"

"The hair growth one? Yeah but I don;t understand why you want it."

"Watch. this might be interesting." I walk over to the edge of the river, and leaning on my crutch, I take a deep breath and shout "HEY STEVEN! MR. STEVEN MAGNET? ARE YOU THERE?"

The others look at me in complete surprise and disbelief.

"I'm a bit busy right now, please come back later!'' A voice shouts back at us, much to the surprise of the ponies with me.

"I can fix your mustache, please come over here." I shout back, and cup my hand to my ear for the response.

"REALLY? I'll be right theeerrre" Steven replies with a singsong voice, his wailing a thing of the past.

The river starts to seemingly surge in the opposite direction, as a large purple dragon comes sailing on the water towards us, halting to a sudden stop in front of us, spraying me, head to toe in wake.

"Hello, all you cute ponies, and whatever you are, sir. You said you can help with my mustache?" He says, flamboyantly, motion to his mustache with a flourish, where half has been pulled out.

"Nice to meet you Steven, I'm Fawkes. I have here a bottle of hair repair tonic, made by my friend, and personal student of the Princess. It should get your mustache back to its original radiance and magnificent state in a few hours, all you need to do, is splash it on where it was damaged, and try to keep it out of the water for a bit. In return, I ask that you help us cross the stream. We have a date at the castle in this forest, and we can't be late."

"Oh, of course, of course. It would be my PLEASURE to help you, if it means my mustache gets better. Please, just climb on my back, and cross over, I'll grab the tonic from you after." Steven straightens his long back across the river, and lowers his head, so we can cross him. After we all get across, he turns back to the other side, and I pass him the tonic. he crawls out of the water, and uncorks the bottle slathering the liquid on his damaged facial hair. Instantly, the damaged hair starts to grow back, and it seems like it wont be stopping any time soon.

"All you got to do is wash off the tonic when it reaches the right length. Thank you for help, Mr. Magnet." Twilight says, as Steven marvels in amazement at the effectiveness of the tonic.

"Oh, Anytime, sweeties. an-y-time at all. Thank you guys soooo much for helping with my mustache problem. If you're ever in the area, don't be a stranger. Bye now!" He calls back as we make our was into the forest again.

"How did you guys cross the river last week?" I ask, looking back at the now calm waters ,as they glisten in the moonlight.

"I had Rainbow Dash carry us over. By then you and Fluttershy were back at the cliff, so it was pretty easy.

We continued into the forest, and walked for another ten or so minutes.

"I think the castle was about another five more minutes or so. we should come cross a trench soon, and it's tight on the other side of...What was that? Twilight stops suddenly, and motions for everyone to be still.

A low rumble can be heard, coming from the woods itself. and odd smell rises from the woods around us.

"I know that smell. It smells like timberwolves!" AJ shouts, and point toward a tree, where a timber wolf comes out from the tree, and several more behind it.

"If it was just one we'd be able to take it, but I don't think we can fight an entire pack..." Twilight says, worried, as we all back up into a group. I take my crutch, and spin it around, and hold it like a baseball bat, ready to swing at anything that gets close enough.


	7. Chapter 6 - Twilight in the Darkness Pt2

**Authors note: Sorry for taking so long between chapters here. There one has actually been "written" for months, but i wasn't happy with some parts, and was honestly lazy, when it came to re-writing it, as well as suffering from a lack of creativity needed to complete the sections i wasn't happy with. There will be a closer chapter that finishes the Summer Sun Celebration, but will segue into the next section, which will be original content, not enspired by any episode, but instead on things happened in this fic. I also have some ideas for new fics, or stories that I might be working on too. Thank you for everyone who reads my work, I hope it's entertaining. I'd love to hear what people think, so please leave a comment, offering constructive critisim, or general comments. Please try to refrain from hateful comments. They don't help anyone**

 **Twilight in the Darkness - Pt 2**

My stomach turned as the foul stench of the Timberwolves filled the air. It was a mix of composting leaves and rotten carrion. Keeping my weight off my injured ankle, I gripped my crutch carefully, as we all stood back to back, eyeing the incoming predators.

I noticed a few eyeing me up directly, I guess they noticed that I'm injured, thus easy prey. One leaps at me, and I ready my crutch.

"Whoa, there, ya ornery piece of shrubbery!" I hear a shout from my left, as a pair of orange hooves and legs from flying into view, impacting the side of the timberwolf, and causing its head to shatter, the rest of the body crumbling without it, mere moments later.  
"Thanks, AJ!" I shout, as another Timberwolf lunges at the group, I swing my crutch into the side of its face, causing some of the pieces to go flying, but it looks at me and snarls. I swing again, bringing the top end of the crutch down like a hammer, knocking the remains of the head clean off it, which I then give a hearty boot back towards the trees.

"Not bad yourself, considerin' those injuries you got" Applejack comments, and she and Rainbow take turns kicking at another timberwolf attacking from their side. A sudden explosion of sound and confetti draws our attention behind us, where 3 Timberwolves are reduced to a pile of sticks by Pinkie's party cannon.

"Heeheehee, I guess my party cannon..." She pauses to put on a pair of sunglasses, "BLEW THEIR MINDS!" She crosses her front legs in front of her as she stands on her hind, and trie to look cool. The group groans collectively, while I hide a snort of laughter.

"Uh, guys, sorry to ruin the moment, but the Timberwolves aren't done for yet!" rainbow shouts, from slightly above the party. we turn to the first few we broke and see the remains pulling themselves together, surrounded by some sort of green magic.

"Uh, right, Maybe I shoulda mentioned this, but Timberwolves, uh...regenerate," Aj says from behind the group. "As long as the parts can reach each other, they can just put themselves back together. I could string a few of them up with my here lasso, but that wouldn't stop them all."

"Ooh, Applejack, you DO come up with a good idea now and then. I think I can help." Rarity cuts in with excitement in her voice "This is Rarity's time to shine! I will have to borrow that lasso of yours, darling, and I'm afraid you won't be getting it back in good condition, but I think I can put a stop to this."

"My Lasso? No way, No how! I need this lasso for helpin' my duties on the farm. My trusty lasso has never let me down!" Applejack retorts with a bit of indignation in her voice.

"Darling, trust me on this. It's the only way to stop these...things from repairing themselves with their vulgar magic." Rarity says, putting on her pout face

"Fine, but you better be gettin' me a new one once we get back to town." Applejack reluctantly hands her precious lasso to Rarity, who takes it with her magic. A flash of light, and it's reduced down to fibres and she starts recombining it into small, but tough strings. A newly reformed timberwolf jumps in from the side, but a blast of magic from Twilight sends it smashing against a tree and shattering.

"Done! I'd have really liked to make it look a little more appealing, but..."

"How it looks don't matter Rarity, just save us, would you!" Applejack shouts, as she bucks another timberwolf.  
"Ugh! Fine! But there's nothing wrong with putting a little flair into a something you've made." Rarity starts magicking the strings she formed around larger parts of the wolves and stringing them up to tree branches around the clearing. Twilight notices and starts to help. A few of the parts recombine, but nothing big enough to really move on their own.

"Well done Rarity! that should prevent them from repairing themselves for a bit. I'm impressed" Twilight comments. "Now, come on, we're almost at the castle of the two sisters."

"One moment, if you please. There's still something I have to do."  
She walks over to some vines hanging from a tree, and magicks them off the branches. They wriggle and attempt to break free, but can't. There is another bright flash, and the vines are reduced down to plant fibres, and begin to intertwine themselves. I watch as rarity works, the grace she uses to weave the delicate fibres into a something new, it's just astounding.

"Here you go, Applejack. I know it doesn't seem like much, but this lasso is much stronger than one made of simple rope. Sorry I had to use your other one." Rarity says as she hands the twitchy pile of vine rope to AJ.

"Thanks, I guess? It seems kind of alive though..." She responds, noticing it attempting to reach out for her. She stows it away under her hat, "I'm sure all it needs is a good bit of trainin' up, and I'll probably be able to do more with it than I'd ever been able to do with a regular one. Thanks, Rarity."

"I'm sure all your friends here would be happy to help you with that, once we get out of here," I say, motion to the rest of the party. Everyone nods and speaks to their agreement. "But as Twilight says, we have to move on here. These bonds won't last forever, so we gotta move before they break free and finish reforming.  
We move on, and in only mere minutes, reach the large trench across from which the castle is clearly visible, even through the fog emanating from the crevice. I pull rainbow aside for a moment.

"Rainbow, We need you to fly over and tie the bridge back up, but this close to the castle, there may be interference from Nightmare Moon. If you see anyone there, no matter who they claim to be, it's probably an illusion from nightmare moon. Just ignore it and tie up the bridge, so we can join you." I say, looking her dead in the eye.

"Psh, as if I'd fall for a little illusion, Fawkes! Just who do you think I am? See ya on the flip side!" She shouts as she flies across the gap. We see the bridge tighten, and a shape comes back through the mist. "There. All done. You guys can cross now!"

Fluttershy and Twilight start to cross the bridge, and I noticed that something was odd about Rainbow, as she hovered over the bridge.

"Wait, guys. Look at Rainbow's Cutie Mark." I say, pointing up at the cyan pony above the bridge. Her Cutie mark, a rainbow coloured lightning bolt coming from a cloud, normally points the tip of the bolt towards the rear of her body, but this time, it points toward her inner thigh. "

"Well, aren't YOU observant. Can't expect me to get everything right so fast, can you?" 'Rainbow Dash' says. "Fine then! Let's see where unneeded observations get you!"

The imposter lets out a bellowing wail, as the bridge below begins to shudder.

"Watch out!" I shout as the bridge begins to fall away. Fluttershy takes to the air and quickly makes it back the short distance she had covered on the bridge, but Twilight, who had been more than halfway across, begins to fall, as the bridge gives out midway through, and swings toward the opposite cliff, a bright purple light the last thing we see, as the bridge fades into the fog, and a loud crash echoes back to our side of the gorge.

"TWILIGHT!" The ponies around me shout as they stare into the gorge, looking for any sign of their friend. I, however, turn my attention to the impostor Rainbow Dash.

"All right, Who are you? I ask, glaring at the imposter. "Since you clearly aren't rainbow Dash!"

"You're right, I'm not. I'm actually..." The imposter starts, before being cut off.  
"WOBNIAR! Rainbow's evil twin sister, that nopony knows about!" Pinkie Pie interjects.

"NO!" Everyone else shouts in unison.

"No. I'm a shade created by Nightmare Moon to put a stop to this little adventure." The copy resumes. " And I'm going to start with whatever you are!"

'Rainbow Dash' charges straight at me, hooves outstretched, as I dive out of the way, landing hard on my bad leg. Pain shoots through my ankle, as I roll over to see my assailant coming back for another dive. I sit up and hold my crutch in a batting position. A battle cry ringing out from the fog catches both of our attention.

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH" A cyan blur impacts the Fake from over the gorge, screaming as it does. "Take this you mangy fake! How dare you take my awesome face and make me look bad!"

Rainbow Dash crashes to the ground and begins to wrestle with her doppelganger. The two identical ponies holding each other down.

"Fawkes! Hurry, hit her while I got her pinned!" One of them shouts at me.

"NO! Hit HER while I have her pinned!" The other retaliates.

I look at the cutie marks. Both are identical. Damn it. She must have fixed it while we were distracted. I get up, and raise the crutch above my head, as I approach.

"Rainbow, what's the first thing that happened when we met?"

"I crashed into Twilight and got her muddy" Both Rainbows say in unison.

I sigh audibly. Why couldn't this just be easy... Wait. The copy probably had a way of extracting memories from the real one, but probably only did recent ones, due to time. That gave me an idea.

"Rainbow, This might be hard to understand, but I need you to answer truthfully and quickly. Whose life did you save, when you first got your cutie mark?"

"I don't know how you know that, but it was Fluttershy..." one of the Rainbow's answer.

I swing my crutch down on the silent Rainbow, and she dissipates into blue smoke and fades away.

"But, Fawkes, how did you know that?" Rainbow asks, looking at me curiously"

"That's something we can discuss later. I promised I'd tell you guys everything after this was all over right? But we have to focus now.

"Right. But now we need to fix the bridge again..." Rainbow mentions, motioning out towards the again collapsed bridge.

As she spoke, the bridge begins to glow purple and levitate, joining back together and mending itself.

"Okay guys, we can cross now. did you take care of the double?" A voice rings out through the fog, as a shape approaches us until Twilight is visible through the fog.

"Are you really Twilight?" I ask. "What happened to you when Spike first hatched?"

"I...got my cutie mark, and acceptance into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns... but how could you know that?" Twilight asks me, head cocked slightly to the side.

"It's really her guys," I reassure everyone. "I'll tell you how I knew later. We have a job to do here."

So, what happened, Twilight?" I ask as we cross the bridge.

"When the bridge collapsed, I teleported to this side. I figured Rainbow must have been attacked over here, and I found her unconscious on the ground. I roused her, and she just took off through the fog."

"Yeah, as I started to tie the bridge, I heard a voice. I turned around to see myself, and I got clonked on the head. After that, As soon as I woke up, I charged the Not Me and, well, Fawkes and I took her down."

As we make it across the bridge, and down the path a short way, the castle looms before us, its door wide open, as if beckoning us in. I tell the others to be careful, and we step into the ruins of the castle.

"Glad you could make it, Better late than never. AHAHAHAHAHAHA" A voice rings out from the back of the Ruins.

"Nightmare Moon!" Twilight shouts from the front of the pack. "We're here to stop you!"

"Oh, really. Finally plucked up the courage to come and challenge me? Nightmare Moon asks, haughtily, "And here I figured you'd turned tail and ran."

"As if we were the one ones who were scared. I'm not the one who caused the cliff to collapse, delaying us in the first place, nor did I create the shade of Rainbow Dash. The only one here that's afraid here, is you." I say, looking the evil mare right in the eyes. She stands on a raised platform near the end of the room, so I need to glance up slightly to match her eyes, despite our near even heights.

"Uhm, I'm a little scared..." Fluttershy chirps in from behind me. Rolling my eyes, I pull my phone out of my pocket and hold it behind me, so the others can see. On it is a small text document, illustrating my plan to distract Nightmare Moon long enough for Twilight to figure out what to do."

"Scared? of a puny human and his 6 pony friends? HA! You don't even have the elements. I DESTROYED THEM. ALL IS LOST FOR YOU!" Nightmare shouts and then fires a beam of magic directly down the center of the room. We all scatter, Rainbow and AJ going left, while I and Twilight head right, Rarity and Fluttershy stay to the rear for support and cheering.

I duck behind a small wall circling where the plinth where the Element stones were and waited for the signal. Suddenly music started blaring from the other side of the room, causing Nightmare Moon to look in the direction. I took that opportunity to strike, running in, and delivering a hefty blow to the left side of Nightmare Moon's face.

"AAAAARGH, WHY YOU LITTLE..." She screams as she turns toward me, but I've already ducked under her body and thrust my fist right into where her kidney should be. She howls in pain, and swing back around towards me. This time, her aim is true, and I take a magical blast to the chest. It's like getting hit with a wrecking ball. My breath is forced out of me, while I'm thrown off my feet, and smack hard into the ground. It takes all my effort to keep my head up and not get brained on the ground.

"Nice try, but not good enough. It will be fun killing you, after what you just did." Nightmare says to me, as she turns around. I raise my head to see her approaching over me, her horn glowing with a deadly light as she prepares to finish me off.

WHAP! A small rectangular object collides with the side of her head. She looks at the object that hit her, a small black object, lit up on one side, still blaring music from before. Rainbow had thrown my phone at her. She rears up and stomps down on it, reducing it to fragments, before turning back, spell still ready, to see I was no longer there.

"Man that took some major nerves to pull that off Fawkes, but it was AWESOME!" Rainbow says as she pulls me to safely back behind the small wall. Twilight, who had been carefully observing the scene sees the worried faces of all the ponies around her, as a spark of intuition spreads through her mind. These ponies. are all here, fighting tooth and hoof, for her, and this weird being they have just barely met.

She thinks back to the adventures they have had over the last attempt to reach the castle and now.

"I get it! Nightmare Moon, you said you destroyed the elements, but you were wrong. The elements cannot be destroyed. They are embodied by ponies who exhibit qualities they represent. Like Pinkie, who regardless of the mood, keeps a smile and a laugh about, ready to keep out spirits up. She represents the Element of Laughter!"

As she said this, Pinkie bounds to her feet, as a glow of light around her neck marks the materialization of the element necklace.

"Rainbow Dash, who has shown unwavering steadfastness, to her town, and to her friends, no matter how much the situation would normally call for the opposite, represents the Element of Loyalty!"

Another Necklace appears as Rainbow flies above the group, coming to settle down beside Pinkie and Twilight.

"Applejack, who remained level-headed and spoke her mind about the current events, even if it was something that could cast doubt on another, she did it to keep her family and friends safe. She represents the Element of Honesty!"

"YEEHAW!" Applejack shouts, as she jumps from behind the short wall, and lands with her friends, ready to pounce if needed."

"Rarity, who was willing to give whatever was needed, no matter the cost to someone in need, and was replaced whatever she took, with something even greater, when it would save her friends, She represents the Element of Generosity!"

Rarity walks proudly out to join her friends, her necklace gleaming like an amethyst jewel. She stands ready to fight, horn at the ready.

"Fluttershy, despite wanting to protect her animals, and flee with her life, was willing to stay and protect her friend, when we had to leave him unconscious, due to the landslide YOU caused. Such an act warranted only by one who represents the Element of Kindness!"

Fluttershy timidly floats over to her friends, and after looking at them, stops hiding behind her wings, and lowers into a combat stance, eyes full of determination.

"As for myself, I represent the last Element, something I'd have never figured out if it wasn't for my friend Fawkes, who looked out for me and my friends and encouraged us to work things out on our own. I learned that Friendship is the most powerful magic of all, and that is the last element. The Element of Magic!"

As she says this, the Tiara of Magic appears on her head, and with a poof, I am magicked from behind the wall where Rainbow left me, and into the middle of the group of ponies.

"AND WE WON'T LET YOU HURT OUR FRIEND ANYMORE!" Twilight shouts, as all the ponies start to glow, and levitate. Bright rainbow lights connect the six of them, as they rise high into the air. A bright flash of light and the rainbow energy is hurled at Nightmare Moon, who attempts to back away,

"NOOOO! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING! I WAS TO BRING NIIIGHT ETERNAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!"

Nightmare Moon gives a long echoing scream, as the rainbows envelop her, crashing in on her in one final tidal wave of light. I raise my hand to shield my eyes from its magnificence, and then it's gone, my eyes, attempting to adjust to the sudden darkness that replaced the brilliance from before.

"Did it work?" Rainbow Dash asks as she moves in from the back of the pack, as a shadow begins to move slightly.

"Ladies, may I introduce you," I say, as I approach the mare beginning to rise from the spot where Nightmare Moon last was, "To the princess of the moon, and Celestia's Younger sister, Princess Lun..."

"LUNA! Luna, oh my heavens, is it really you?" A voice rings in from a window above high above. Princess Celestia flies down to ground level, and offers a wing to the blue mare, and gets a good look at her.

"Luna! It is you. Oh, my sister, my precious sister! I have missed you so! I had regretted that day since it happened, but you have returned to me, after one thousand years, you returned to me!"

Celestia breaks down into tears, as she hugs her sister, while the rest of us, just look on incredulously.

"Elder sister. I'm...so sorry. I was so envious of your beautiful day, and all that envy and hate, it just built up and made me into someone I wasn't. I'm sorry for worrying you." Luna says tearfully to her sister.

"Oh, my Little Luna. It is I who is sorry. I was the one who pushed you that far. I am the one who could not save you in the end. Now, let us head back to Ponyville. We have much to discuss, and a celebration to perform."

Celestia looks at us, as she and her sister start to walk toward the exit of the ruins. I motion to the rest, and we all follow them out of the castle.


	8. Chapter 7 - Summer Sun Celebation Again?

**Authors Note: Sorry for the delay in this one. I actually meant to have this one out several weeks ago. I wasn;t happy with the way it was written. Still am not, but it's postable. The next one wont be for a bit though, as I need to make sure that I have the next arc planned. The next few chapters are all going to be original work, before i get into the episodes again. That's probably going to be the format going forward. 2-3 chapters of original content, and then a story arc about an episode. There will be an overarching original story I will be trying to tell as well. Keep your eyes peeled for interessting tidbits that might point to this. :3 In other news, I will also be posting a new story soon. It's a completely original work, and I will not be posting the whole story. IT's actually going to be a few chapters into a book I have been writing for a while. The reason I started writing this fic, was to nail down my writing style and habits before attempting my book, as I realized some bad habits I needed to fix, such as tense shifting. look forward to that, I am hoping to get some feedback on that story to help drive the creation. Thanks for reading.**

 **Chapter 7 - The Summer Sun Celebration...again.**

The trip back to Ponyville was silent. I was pondering, perhaps too much, about that look that Celestia gave me as we were exiting the castle. Everyone else was perhaps too tired, or cautious of the pensive atmosphere to speak up. Shortly after we reached Ponyville, Twilight finally spoke up.

"Princess Celestia? Where have you been all this time?" Twilight asked quietly, as she trotted up along her mentor.

"My powers had been sapped when Nightmare Moon escaped her lunar prison. I thought as much would happen, and that is why I sent you to Ponyville. I knew you would be successful in preventing Nightmare Moon from achieving her goal." Celestia looked gently at her younger sister, who seemed to cower down at her gaze. I guess Luna is still confused and angry at herself for what happened. I'll have to see about talking to her to prevent the Tantabus...

"But you told me that it was just an old pony's tale. That I needed to stop reading 'those musty old books' and get out more..." Twilight started, confused.

" I told you that you needed to make some friends, and you did wonderfully. I knew you could not stop Nightmare Moon without letting friendship into your heart, and I knew Fawkes would be able to assist in making this easier, although I expected his help to make this go faster, not take a week." She replied, sending a cheeky smirk my way.

"Hold your horses there, Princess," I said, taking a moment to chuckle at my own joke, "I outright told you that my being here could throw a wrench into what I know," I responded, with an air of mock offence.

"Hang on, whaddya mean by that?" Applejack asks trotting alongside me. "I thought you know everything that would happen, a fact you've yet to explain, as promised."

There was a bit of venom in those final two words, but not enough to feel bad about.

"You're right, I did promise, but we have a Summer Sun Celebration to finish. We can meet back up at the library to explain it all before we all part ways for the day...night...whatever. I already told the Princess about my...situation. That's why she decided to send me here to help Twilight. I told her though, I don't know how much spoiling what I know, or just my being here might change things. "

As we stepped into City Hall, raucous applause erupted all around us, as the town, as we found out later, was gathered by the Mayor after we'd left for the castle, cheered at the sight of their returned monarch. Celestia walked up to the stage at the front of the venue and waved us up with a nod of her head. The group of us wander up on stage, and stood around sheepishly, clearly not used to the pressure of being on stage.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts. I come to you today, for two main reasons. One, of course, is the traditional Raising of the Sun, that usually happens at the Summer Sun Celebration."

She paused for a moment, and raised her wings, slowly at first, but higher and higher, as golden magic enveloped her horn. An orange glow from the windows high above us signalled the rising of the sun outside. Applause from the audience prolonged the pause for a short while. Once the cheers subsided, she continued.

"The second reason for you to all be here today, is for me to introduce, or I should say reintroduce you all to my younger sister Luna. She once stood beside me in ruling this fair country of Equestria, until an unfortunate accident ripped us apart. However, thanks to the efforts of my faithful student Twilight Sparkle and her friends, She has at long last been returned to my side and, once she is rested and ready, will once again take hold of her duty to raise the moon each night, and lower it in the morning, as well as guarding all her faithful subjects, as they dream, and sleep so they may wake up, knowing that they are loved, and protected. "

Celestia once again paused, as cheering erupted from the crowd once more, with calls of support to the young princess from many in the audience. Luna looked up to the crowd, as tears welled up in her eyes. She sat down beside her sister and wept into her wing.

"One last thing, I must say, before we take our leave. My student, Twilight Sparkle, seems to have learned much from her short stay here in Ponyville and has made many friends. It would be cruel of me to rip her away from them to study back in Canterlot and as such, I give her a mission, for the good of all Equestria! Twilight Sparkle. By order of Princess Celestia, you will continue your studies, here in Ponyville, aiding your townsfolk, and your friends, and report back to me with your findings. You shall continue to be assisted by your steadfast companion, Spike the Dragon, and the Human Fawkes, until such time as the mysteries surrounding his arrival in our fair lands, and the method to send him home is discovered. Fawkes, I also task you, with assisting and protecting my student, her friends, and this town, until such times as we can return you to your own home."

I stand at attention and give a salute, and a curt nod to the princess, to show that I accepted her mission.

"With all that said, I wish the very best for the upcoming year, to everyone in Ponyville. Go home, and rest, and put the terrible occurrences of the last week behind you."

Upon finishing her speech, Celestia looked down at her sister, and nodded, before spreading her wings and taking off, exiting through a balcony window, her sister following suit shortly after. I turned to Twilight and our friends, as I have one more task to accomplish before we all go home for the day.

"Alright guys, I owe you all an explanation, and probably a few apologies too. Lets all head to the library, and I'll explain everything.

"Now, now, Fawkes. It's been a terribly long and arduous night for the lot of us, and we're all quite tired. Lets put it off until we've all had a bit of sleep." Rarity says daintily, with the rest of the group murmuring their assent.

"As much as I wanna hear this, I'm pretty beat. Let's handle this after I've had some shut-eye" Rainbow Dash agreed.

With that matter temporarily handled, everyone went their own way, as Twilight and I made our way back to the library to get some rest.

Upon reaching the Library, Spike climbed into his basket to get some sleep, while Twilight stopped, and looked around as if trying to find something she dropped.

"What's up, Twilight? Lose something?" I ask quizzically.

"No... I just realized you haven't actually stayed here overnight. I don't have a bed for you. The only bed in the library, aside from Spike's, is the one I used, and it's pony sized." Twilight says, looking at me apologetically.

"Oh, that? don't worry about it. Give me a pillow and a couple of blankets, and I can rough it on the floor for a night or two. I'm sure we can put in an order for a proper sized bed. I'm sure that Celestia will have no problem in making sure the expense is covered for us. Isn't there a Sofa and Quill store in town? Perhaps they do custom beds too." I pointed out, thoughtfully.

"Rough it on the floor? I can't allow that. Celestia told me to take care of you, It would be rude, and unfair to you to make you sleep on the floor." Twilight responded aghast that I would even conceive of the idea of sleeping on the floor.

"Trust me Twi, I've slept on worse. I'd sleep on the floor all the time back in my world, whenever I had a backache or something. The hard surface is good for the back, occasionally. I'll be fine." I assure her.

With the matter settled and the beds ready for sleeping, we lay ourselves down for a few hours of sleep, even as the sun starts to shine dimly through the windows. Twilight magics out the remaining light in the loft, the only remaining light being the sunlight filtering in through the curtains, giving an air of twilight.

"Hey, Fawkes..." I hear from the direction of Twilight's bed, as I turn and bunker down under the blankets on the ground, "Thanks for your help with Nightmare Moon. I feel that despite the setbacks, we couldn't have figured that out without you. Also, sorry... for the misgivings I had for you before. You really seem like a good pon...person."

I turn back over to look in her direction.  
"You really need to stop selling yourself short Twilight. You would have had no issue figuring that out for yourself. If anything, all I did was fix a problem I caused in the first place. That's not much to be proud of, really. Now get some sleep. You look positively exhausted."

With that said, and the silence that followed, the two of us faded into sleep.

"Soon...soon." A voice says in my head, and a red-irised eye with a scar flashes across my vision. A sudden shock rips me from my dream, and I realizes I'm sitting bolt upright in my 'bed'

"Fawkes? What's wrong?" I hear a voice coming from the stairs down from the loft, and gentle clopping reveals Twilight coming up to check on me. " I heard you shout suddenly."

Had I shouted? I don't remember... Wait. What was it I saw? I close my eyes and try to remember. Nope. Gone. Damn my inability to remember dreams.

"Sorry Twilight. Must have been startled awake by a dream. What time is it?" I ask, leaning over to pick my glasses up off the floor, a few feet away from where I was sleeping. Wouldn't have wanted to roll over on them in my sleep.

"It's a little after noon. You've been asleep for about five hours. I myself woke up about half an hour ago. I've already made plans for everyone to meet us here at about one o'clock, so make sure you're ready by then."

"Yes, Ma'am!" I say as I give a mock salute. I've only had the one set of clothes since I got here, but while I was in the hospital, I was wearing a gown that apparently Rarity was able to make out of two regular sized ones. Sorry clothes. You'll have to keep going a bit longer.

Soon enough, I had eaten (cucumber sandwiches, no complaints here,) and the others had just arrived, and gotten comfortable. I guess it's finally time for the big reveal. I hope this goes easier than I think it will...

"So. Here we are, guys. I made you a promise, and I'm going to keep it. no more secrets...well, I can't say 'no' more. There's probably a few points I'll forget or non-pertinent information I'd rather keep for myself, but here we go." I take a deep breath. oh boy. Stay calm. Getting flustered won't help anything. "As you already know, I'm from another world. Now, In my world, we have devices, like my phone (I feel a twinge in my chest, about my phone being destroyed) that run on something we call Electricity. It's kind of like Magic, is here. It powers devices like my phone, but more importantly, TVs. TV, short for Television, is a device we have in my world, that can receive images, broadcast out from a compatible source, that allows us humans to share information. It's also used as a form of entertainment."

"What does one of these here Tellervisions have to do with you knowing our futures?" Applejack cuts in.

"I'm sure he's getting to the point, Applejack, but He'd do so much faster if you DIDN'T INTERRUPT HIM" Rarity retorts, nearly shouting the last few words.

"Everypony settle down," Twilight interjects, "Please keep until after Fawkes finished to ask any questions. I'm sure he can settle up any confusion we have after he's done."

"Thank you Twilight," I say, once everyone settled down and the attention was on me again. " To answer your question, AJ, Everything. As I said, These TVs were used as a form of entertainment. People would record shows and broadcast them to TVs for others to enjoy. One of these shows was called "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"

Rainbow snorted out loud, as she broke out into laughter.

"Bah ha ha ha. That show sounds stupid. Why would anyone watch it? What was it even about?"

"You guys," I say, which predictably caused Rainbow Dash to stop laughing, as she choked on her laughter a bit, and refocused on me, as Pinkie thumped her back. Originally a show designed for young kids, primarily girls, as a way of promoting a toy line of the same name, the show gained popularity with both genders, and of people of ages well beyond the target audience. The internet is partly to blame for this. While this phenomenon started primarily as a joke, more and more people got addicted to the show's relatable characters, charming scenarios, and crisp animation. I myself, decided to see what all the fuss was about, and got hooked after the first 5 episodes or so, despite having...disdain for the people who claimed to like this show aimed at little girls."

I stop for a minute to catch my breath and observe the audience for their reactions. All 6 ponies and Spike were all waiting silently for me to continue.

"This show featured a Unicorn, by the name of Twilight Sparkle, who is sent from her hometown of Canterlot to a small town known as Ponyville, where she learns all about Friendship, and the magic it can bring into the lives of those involved. As you can tell, that's a little too on the nose for what happened here. What happened with Nightmare Moon, That was the first two episodes of the show. It would seem, that somehow, I was taken from my world, and brought into the world of this wonderful show. That's how I know whats going to happen. That's how I seemed to know you all so well, despite not having talking ponies where I come from. I've been watching you all for years, enjoying what I thought was just a bunch of fictional characters living fictional lives. At the time when I woke up here, six seasons of the show had aired..."

I trail off, looking at the confused ponies before me. when it's clear I wasn't sure what to say next, someone spoke up.

"So, what yer saying is, we aren't real?" Applejack says softly.

"OF COURSE YOU'RE REAL" I shout, standing up, causing Fluttershy to shriek and fall backwards off her stool. Realizing I had shouted, I quickly dial back my voice. "Sorry, Fluttershy. Of course you're real. You're here, aren't you? you live, you breathe, and eat, and sleep. I can reach out and touch you. You EXIST. Just because you're fictional in the world I came from, doesn't mean you aren't real. Think of it like this. In my universe, we have something called the multiverse theory. It basically is as such. Everything exists somewhere. If you can think it, it exists. There are millions, if not billions of possibilities out there, and each one has it's own universe. When someone makes a show or writes a book, that universe exists out there. We catch glimpses of it. reality merging, or crossing into each other, that some people can see, in dreams, or in deep thought. Everything exists. You, me, everything..."

I stop for a moment and realize I'm winded from talking so much. I drop back into my chair.

"So, like, lots of people from that 'interweb' thing watched the show right?" Rainbow Dash asks. "Did they have favourite characters? was I popular? Was I the most popular?" Rainbow gets more excited with each question.

"Everyone was popular. Discussion over who was everyone's favourite character in the show was had never been short of participants."

"Oh, and who was your favourite? Huh? HUH?" Pinkie asks, and she leans so far out of her chair towards me, I'm amazed she didn't fall.

"Well..." My eyes deceived me for a moment as they darted over to Twilight, but I hoped no one saw that. "I couldn't really pick a favourite. You're all such great peop...ponies. It wouldn't have been fair to pick a favourite... ha ha ha... Anyways, as I watched the show, that's how I knew what was going to happen. The show had been airing for about six years, so I got lots of knowledge. But I don't know how much can, or will change. I'll have to be careful about spoilers. I can't just outright tell you guys whats coming up. I will, however, try my best to make sure anything problematic is dealt with as smoothly as possible. No promises though."

As the afternoon went on, I ended up talking for hours about some of the differences between my world and this one. Pinkie for some reason seemed particularly interested in electronics and entertainment. I guess she does like entertaining people... Eventually, we noticed it was darkening out, and we decided to go our separate ways. before she left, Rarity took my measurements, and we made plans to meet up the next day to talk clothes for my stay. As she left, I saw a gleam in her eye that told me she was looking forward to the creative challenge this would pose for her. Twilight and I prepared for a proper night of sleep.

"Fawkes? I have one more question for you." Twilight says as we set up our beds for the night. I grunt in affirmation of her question, as I lay out my blankets. "When Rainbow asked about favourite characters, I could have sworn I had seen you glance at me before you answered. Mind telling me what that was all about?"

Crap...busted... oh boy... uhhh...

"Nothing in particular. I guess I was just thankful for your putting me up until we can figure this out. That tends to give points to me favouring anyone. pay it no mind. I'm sure with time, I'll give everyone the same favour." Whew. Nice save, Me.

She gave a little chuckle and turns over in her bed. "Goodnight Fawkes.

I do the same in my 'bed' and give a long sigh. "Goodnight, Twilight...Goodnight Spike." The dragon doesn't answer me. Must already be asleep. I lay in bed, going over the events of the last week in my mind until I eventually fall asleep.


	9. Chapter 9 - Dressing to Impress

Chapter 9: Dressing to Impress

A small bell dings, as I step into Carousel Boutique, for the first time, since Rarity brought us here upon our first meeting, to fix Twilight's mane after Rainbow managed to wreck it with her patented 'Rain blow dry" technique.

"One moment please!" A singsong voice comes from out of view, near the back of the boutique.

I stop for a moment, and look around at some of the designs Rarity has been working on recently. I've never really had an eye for fashion, but there are some really nice ensembles here. Looking around, I can see several unfinished dresses on dress forms along one of the walls towards the back of the room. Rarity must have been working on a new line before all of last week happened. I'll have to apologize for making her put that off for my sake.

"Hello, and welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is Chic and Magnifiq...Oh, Hello Fawkes. I didn't expect you here quite so early." Rarity starts her greeting before seeing who had come to her business.

"I said I'd be here today, figured it would be best to be here early, in case you need to remeasure or anything. I also wanted to bring you this. I've been holding onto it since I was here last time." I say, taking out the reimbursement slip Celestia told me to give to whoever makes my clothes.

" Remeasuring won't be necessary, dear. I am Rarity after all! To be honest, I already started on the line, using the base measurements I used to make the gown for you at the hospital. I just needed to take proper ones yesterday, so I could make any adjustments needed to the outfits I made. Shall we take a look?" She motions to the door off to the back that she had just come through a few minutes ago. It leads to her design studio and houses the stairs up to the second level, where her bedroom is.

As we pass into the new room, I'm greeted with the sight of several crudely made human shaped mannequins, all, with several items of clothes on it, Several pairs of jeans, a few pairs of simple slacks, even a pair of sweatpants, as well as some basic tee shirts of a range of colours.

"Well, Darling, what do you think? Sorry for the crude dress forms. I didn't have anything in your size and shape, so I whipped something up real quick to suit. Helped me keep my mind off...events, last weeks."

"It's...great, Rarity. Simple, but enough to be ready for most situations, Honestly, it's not much different from my actual wardrobe. I've never really had an eye for fashion like you, so simply suits me better."

"The simplicity was mostly borne from the lack of time and resources in making a project like this, but I'm glad you like it. I can show you to the fitting room if you would like to try it all on. The shirts and the jeans, as I recall you calling them, as all the same size, but can be altered if needed."

I spend the next 20-30 minutes trying on the various outfits and seeing the different colours blend with the jeans, which came in several different washes. For someone who had never seen or made human clothes before, Rarity did a fantastic job. No wonder she ends up so successful with her boutiques. Eventually, after I'd had my fill of playing dress up, I selected an outfit for the day, and after leaving instructions on how to redeem the reimbursement letter, I left on my way. Twilight gave me a small bag of Bits go around town and stock up on anything I need, apparently supplied by the Princess again, as a thank you for helping with Nightmare Moon. While I'd normally refuse such a reward, I was currently a person of no income, and little property, so I'll take what I can get.

I walk around town, trying to think of what I still need to get when I noticed Davenport's Sofa and Quill shop. If I recall properly, he sells beds too, as that's where Spike brings Twilight to waste time, in the episode 'Castle Sweet Castle.' A small bell dings, as I pass through the door ducking slightly, as I do with most doors in Equestria.

"Good Afternoon! What can I...do...For you?" Davenport greets me, with a sudden pause, and attempts to continue unphased. "Ah, yes. I remember now, you're that human that the Princess was with at the Summer Sun Celebration. What was your name again?"

"Hello, My name is Fawkes. As I seem to be stuck in this world for an unknown period of time, I was curious as to whether you do custom orders for beds? It's fairly hard to find one of my size, you see."

"Yes, I'm sure it is. I've never done a custom order for a bed before. I supposed if you tell me what sizes you need for the frame and mattress, I could get a quote for materials. It will be quite a bit more expensive than the ones you see here, as it would require both more materials, and more time, to plan and make. Could you afford such a thing?"

"Well, I do have a small number of Bits here, to acquire any necessities, but I doubt it would be enough. The princess says I can ask her if I require any assistance in procuring any specialty items needed for myself or Twilight, so if you get me a quote, I can see if she will reimburse you for any materials and labour." I reply as Davenport stares at me scrutinizingly.

We talk specifics for a bit, before settling on what would have been a twin size bed in my world. After giving Davenport the dimensions, and preferred material choices for the mattress, I take the quote he gives me and put it in my pocket. I'll have to ask Spike to help me contact Princess Celestia about this later. I leave the store, giving a thank you to Davenport for his time, and as I walk away, a grumble in my stomach reveals how hungry I've gotten. Not being able to eat any meat has caused some trouble for my body. Vegetables just aren't as filling as a good serving of meat, nonetheless, a guy's gotta eat. I head down to Sugar Cube Corner, for a small snack to keep my energy up.

"Oh, Hello Fawkes! Howsya doing today?" An energetic voice calls to me, from the moment I open the door.

"Oh, Hello Pinkie. Working for the Cakes today?" I ask, walking up to the counter, which Pinkie Pie was standing behind, which held an array of sweets and treats.

"Yes indeedy! The Cakes have quite a bit of baking to catch up on, with what happened last week, so they asked me to mind the counter while they do! I've never really helped out without them watching over me, so it's a bit REALLY EXCITING!" Pinkie shouts the last words, as she jumps in the air, and confetti bursts, seemingly out of her mane.

"What was that? Is everything all right Pinkie?" Mr. Cake comes trotting out from the back room in a hurry, clearly concerned by the sudden shout.

"Oh, Good day, Mr. Cake. Sorry for the noise, Pinkie was just telling me how you are letting her mind the shop while you catch up on your baking. Nice to finally meet you, by the way." I say, extending a hand his way.

"Likewise," he says, extending his hoof, so I can shake it" Pinkie has told us all about you. Another world huh? You must be so lost here." Mr. Cakes returns my greeting, with an odd look on his face. Expected a bit of a reaction, as I'm sure I as weird as they would be in my world.

"Not too much. I've made some great friends, who are willing to help me. I should keep you though, I'm sure you're very busy. I'm just here to buy myself a snack."

"Right then. Hope you enjoy." Mr. Cakes walks to the back, where Mrs. Cakes can be seen waiting for him to return. I offer a small wave, which she nervously returns.

So, What can I get for you, Fawkes?" Pinkie pulls my attention back to the case of sweets between us.

"Uh, well, I haven't tried much baking from this world, and I'm looking for something more filling, than sweet. Can I just get a couple of carrot muffins, please?

"Okidoki! That will be 2 Bits please." Pinkie happily bags the muffin, as I place 3 Bits on the counter. "Silly, I said, TWO Bits." She slides the third Bit back my way.

"It's a tip, Pinkie. I'm donating an extra bit to the business, to show my appreciation for the work and service. It's a custom from some parts of my world." I say, sliding the bit back towards her.

"OOOOOH! I see. That's sure nice of you, Fawkes. You haven't even tried it yet."

After saying our partings, I leave the bakery, cheerfully eating my muffins. They're actually pretty good. I wonder if the Cakes provided the muffins for Twilight's welcome party... Those might have been made by our favourite wall-eyed mare though.

With all my important errands done, I explore Ponyville for a while, buying some small things here or there. Noticing it was starting to get late, I decided to head back to the Library for the night. Twilight and I are meeting with Applejack tomorrow and helping to hopefully tame her new Everfree Vine lasso, so It will probably going to be a busy day tomorrow. 


End file.
